The EDGE - 24 Nov 2021

EPF MEMBERS NOW AT RISK OF FALLING INTO
OLD-AGE POVERTY, SAYS CHAIRMAN p6

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2021 w w w. t h e e d g e m a r k e t s. c o m

ISSUE 286/2021

CEOMorningBrief
HOME: MoH holds off implementing ‘unpopular’ Covid-19 guidelines for aircrew p2
High Court allows FELDA and FIC’s bid to strike out Synergy Promenade
suit to get vacant possession of Semarak land p10
Najib seeks adjournment of Dec 8 SRC conviction appeal decision day p18
WORLD: Turkish lira in historic 15% crash after Erdogan stokes fire sale p22

LTAT’s RM555 mil Bursa seeks
takeover of AES a court order
govt bailout, might to compel
involve kickbacks
Serba
Report on Page 3. Dinamik
to disclose
findings

of EY
Consulting’s

review

Report on Page 5.

wednesday november 24, 2021 2 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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MoH holds off Govt prepared to
implementing face fourth wave of

‘unpopular’ Covid-19
Covid-19 guidelines — deputy health

for aircrew minister

by kang siew li Bernama
theedgemarkets.com
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): The
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23):The Minis- ment may affect the optimal rest time avail- government is prepared to face the
try of Health (MoH) will hold off plans to able to the crew,” one industry stakeholder eventuality of the fourth wave of Cov-
implement new Covid-19 guidelines that was quoted as saying. id-19 infections in the country follow-
mandate the crew of both commercial and ing the Melaka state election on Sat-
cargo airlines arriving in Malaysia to un- Other industry stakeholders had said urday (Nov 20).
dergo fever screening and rapid antigen that some foreign airlines, which had sus-
(RTK-Ag) tests, said industry stakeholders. pended flights to Malaysia after the coun- Deputy Health Minister II Datuk
try closed its borders in March last year, Aaron Ago Dagang said the effects
It is understood that MoH has decid- had also threatened to hold off plans to of Covid-19 infections could only be
ed to postpone indefinitely the imple- reinstate their flights even as Malaysia is detected after 10 to 14 days.
mentation of the new guidelines, which set to reopen its borders to international
it announced in a circular dated Nov 11 travellers by Jan 1. "We are monitoring the situation.
and were supposed to come into effect The government is aware and ready
on Nov 21. The proposed guidelines also require to face the possibility of the fourth
a crew member who is tested positive to wave happening in the country, " he
Both foreign and local aircrew of com- undergo a seven-day hotel/home quaran- said during the question-and-an-
mercial and cargo airlines are currently not tine in the country or until the next flight swer session in the Dewan Rakyat
required to undergo RTK-Ag tests after scheduled. on Tuesday.
arriving in Malaysia. Read also:
Covid-19: New cases rise to 5,594 on He was responding to a supple-
“In the latest circular dated Nov 22, Nov 23, Rt at 1.00 Click here mentary question from Dr Kelvin Yii
MoH said it will review and discuss the Covid-19: 82.5% of Malaysia’s adolescent Lee Wuen (Pakatan Harapan-Bandar
Covid-19 procedures for the aircrew,” an population fully vaccinated as of Nov 22 Kuching) on ​p​ reparations by the gov-
industry stakeholder told theedgemarkets. Click here ernment to face the eventuality of an
com on Tuesday (Nov 23). No deaths can be directly linked to increase in Covid-19 cases in Melaka
Covid-19 vaccines, Dewan Rakyat told following Saturday’s state election as
This decision comes after appeals from Click here the impact could only be detected after
airlines to withdraw the proposed guide- 10 to 14 days.
lines. theedgemarkets.com had reported on
Nov 17 that industry stakeholders had Taking a lesson from the Sa-
lamented that under the proposed guide- bah election last year, Aaron said
lines, foreign and local aircrew — including a very strict set of standard oper-
pilots, cabin crew, engineers, loadmasters, ating procedures (SOPs) was set
security and training pilots — would need for the Melaka state election by
to take Covid-19 tests every time they ar- not allowing large-scale campaigns
rive in Malaysia and this may take up to to be held.
two to three hours.
He said strict SOPs will also be
“Crew members are required to have a used for the coming Sarawak state
10-hour rest period within each 24-hour election to curb the spread of Cov-
cycle.Thus, the new RTK-Ag test require- id-19.

wednesday november 24, 2021 3 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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LTAT’s RM555 mil takeover of AES
a govt bailout, might involve kickbacks

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Putrajaya’s by Adam Aziz & Seah Eu Hen AES project “a conspiracy to cheat
directive in 2014 for the Armed Forces theedgemarkets.com Malaysia”, says investigator
Fund Board (LTAT) to take over the au- During the proceedings by JKSTUPKK
tomated enforcement system (AES) for namely the Investigating Committee on in November 2020, investigator Datuk Dr
RM555 million was an “indirect bailout Governance, Procurement and Finances MohdTap Salleh was quoted as saying that
by the government”, says the Public Ac- of the Government (JKSTUPKK). in 2008, a special committee led by then
counts Committee (PAC). chief secretary to the government had de-
It added that the outsourcing of the pro- cided it should be JPJ and the transport
In its report on the AES project released ject to ATES and Beta Tegap should not ministry that should be leading the project.
on Tuesday (Nov 23), the committee also have happened, and that the project should
said the RM555 million consideration was have been executed by the RoadTransport “But then when you fast forward, you
“overvalued” and “exorbitant”, because the Department (JPJ) instead. know there is going to be a lot of money to
price did not follow the due diligence un- be made. I think this is — I do not believe
dertaken by independent valuer KPMG In the report, JKSTUPKK’s then chair- in conspiracy theory, but this is to conspire
PLT, which valued the projects at a maxi- manTan Sri Ambrin Buang was quoted as to cheat Malaysia, actually,” Mohd Tap was
mum of RM251 million. saying that the original cost of the entire quoted as saying.
AES project was RM45 million.
This means that LTAT overpaid the pro- JKSTUPKK had also submitted its re-
ject owners ATES Sdn Bhd (ATES) and The report noted that the Ministry of port to MACC in 2018 for further interven-
BetaTegap Sdn Bhd by at least RM304 mil- Transport had in 2008 proposed that the tion, deputy chief secretariat Datuk Mohd
lion for the project, which had faced scru- project be undertaken by private companies, Salim Ali was quoted as saying.
tiny due to the price tag for the nationwide citing among others, the high maintenance
automated traffic offense camera system. costs of up to 20% of the original estimated “…The committee is of the view that
project cost of RM650 million. there may be a kickback, so we requested
Furthermore, the government actually Bank Negara Malaysia to conduct a mon-
paid LTAT a sum of RM668.9 million as LTAT had taken over the project for ey trail [identification],” Mohd Salim said.
compensation to take over the project in RM555 million in April 2015, in the wake However, during the PAC proceeding in late
2019.This includes an additional RM113.9 of a public uproar over the fact that the con- 2020, an ex-officio of the MACC said that
million upon appeal from LTAT to the gov- cessionaires were private companies. Prior the matter was “still under investigation”.
ernment, based on the liabilities of the assets to that in 2014, the Cabinet was made aware
assumed by LTAT. of a takeover price of RM528 million but In the PAC report, it was also confirmed
did not consider it, as that price tag was by KJSTUPKK that the contract for ATES
Citing KMPG estimates, the PAC re- also deemed as too high. and BetaTegap was approved by the Cabinet.
port said the original AES concessionaires,
ATES and BetaTegap, only commanded a Interestingly,when the government decid- In total, ATES received RM295 million
fair market value of between RM198 mil- ed to take over the project from LTAT, the payment from LTAT, while BetaTegap re-
lion (without an extension of the conces- Ministry of Finance in December 2017 in- ceived RM260 million — and this is based
sion period) and RM251 million (with a on only 14 cameras installed at the time. As
18 month extension). itially agreed for a compen- of Dec 2020, the project has 45 cameras
sation of RM894.3 throughout the nation.
The report also pointed out that the million.
terms of the contract for the service fee that The payout comprised RM327.5 million
is paid to the concessionaires “did not bene- directly from LTAT, and another RM227.5
fit and was detrimental to the government”. million from Boustead Holdings Bhd.

“The MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corrup- In 2018, The Edge reported LTAT’s then
tion Commission) must review and inves- chief executive officer Tan Sri Lodin Wok
tigate the recurring issues on the investiga- Kamaruddin as saying the price was partly
tion’s report, and especially this PAC report, based on the expected returns.
on whether any individuals were involved
in receiving kickbacks in the AES’ takeo- “It [was for] buying the two companies,
ver process by LTAT,” the PAC said in its which own the concession [for 13 years] and
recommendation. other assets. So, the price was based on the
return that could be generated from the con-
The parliamentary committee also cession over the 13-year period,” Lodin told
recommended that the government
make public the 2019 investigation into The Edge.
the project by a committee under the Among the original directors of ATES
Prime Minister’s
Department, was Chee Chwee Cheong — an associate
of Datuk Omar Mustapha Ong, who was
Tan Sri Lodin Wok a former aide of ex-prime minister Datuk
Kamaruddin (left) Seri Najib Razak.
and Tan Sri Ambrin
Buang (right) BetaTegap shareholders then in-
cluded Dr AndreasTeoh, said

to be MCA-linked, and Toh
Puan Rozana Redzuan, who
The edge is said to be related to former
file pics UMNO leaders in Johor.

wednesday november 24, 2021 4 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Translated excerpts of the PAC proceedings

On the number of cameras taken over theedgemarkets.com the first date of the report to MACC,
and the valuation: until today, what is the update? If you
On Feb 23, 2015, LTAT, via Irat Proper- (PAC member) Ahmad Hassan: I have are going to give me [the answer is]
ties Sdn Bhd, took over AES for RM555 a few, Datuk. At the pilot stage we had under investigation, I am very familiar
million, which is RM295 million for 14 cameras, where four were mobile. So with that. I want to know details, why
ATES and RM260 million for BetaTeg- from Sept 2012 to 4 Feb 2013, we had [still] under investigation… I think the
ap. Based on a due diligence that was five months. PAC has the responsibility to know.
conducted, LTAT has overpaid what was Isham Ishak:Yes. Firstly, how long has it been?
recommended by KPMG. Ahmad Hassan: So in the five months Nur Hayati: First report was issued in
suddenly [the project] was put on hold. 2018, still under investigation.
(PAC Deputy Chairperson) Datuk Were the 1,079 units already procured? Ramli: Until now?
Azizah Mohd Dun: They are not basing The cameras. Nur Hayati: Yes sir.
on their [valuation] that was provided by Isham Ishak: Okay. At that stage they Ramli: That is your answer?
KPMG [and paid a higher price]. were supposed to deliver 1,079 but [we Nur Hayati:Yes.
were] given only 14. Ramli: I think we need to call them,
(JKSTUPKK Deputy Chief Secre- Ahmad Hassan: Okay. lah, what is [the problem], explain what
tariat) Dato Ir Mohd Salim Ali: Yes. Isham Ishak: Okay, so at that time ATES is still under investigation, what has not
and Beta Tegap have not delivered. So if [yet been investigated]?
(PAC member) Datuk Dr Mohd Hat- we pay, we would base on progress pay- Nur Hayati: Noted,Yang Berhormat.
ta Md Ramli: Chairman can ask from ment lah. Ramli: Please get your commissioner
RM555 million how much did BetaTeg- On kickbacks and MACC investigation to do it.
ap get, how much did ATES get? Mohd Salim: The committee is of On who gets the short end of the stick
the view that there may be kickback, in the AES project
Mohd Salim: ATES got RM295 mil- so we requested Bank Negara Malay- (JKSTUPKK chairperson) Tan
lion, Beta [Tegap] got RM260 million. sia to conduct a money trail [identi- Sri Ambrin Buang: “… Even from
fication]…. and we were called in to a cost perspective. As I mentioned,
Azizah: This is based on 14 cameras conduct a briefing. After the briefing, if the total investment was around
only ya? all documents were submitted to two RM45 million, the government would
MACC officers to continue the inves- need to give directly to JPJ, they could
Mohd Salim: Yes. tigation, and we did not receive any install the cameras. What was the re-
On avoiding the perception of bailout: information until now, lah. striction? There was none. For me,
(PAC member) Mohd Hatta: Chair- (PAC member) Nurul Izzah Anwar: lah. My thoughts.”
man. Regarding repayment or payment to No [update] received? (JKSTUPKK member) Datuk Dr
LTAT from the government. Actually in Mohd Salim: No update on new devel- Mohd Tap Salleh: Chairman, I to-
the early stages we have heard that among opments. tally agree that is why since 2008, it
the reasons we gave to LTAT and not to a (PAC chairperson) Wong Kah Woh: was decided by the KSN committee
company under MOF if not mistaken, was MACC, any update, comment? (Chief Secretary of the Government),
to avoid it being described as.... (MACC Assistant Commissioner) Nur special committee, that it should be
Hayati Abd Hamin: Chairperson, I will JPJ and MOT but then when you fast
Several PAC members: [Speak without update, still under investigation. forward, you know that there is going
using microphone] Bailout. Wong: Okay, thank you. Must put pres- to be a lot of money to be made – I
sure a bit, yeah [laughs]. do not believe in conspiracy theory,
Mohd Hatta: Bailout. But it seems the (PAC member) Ramli Mohd Nor: but this is to conspire to cheat Ma-
element happened later. With permission, MACC how long has it laysia, actually.
On the original size of the AES project: been? For years, months [it is still] under
(MOT Sec-Gen) Datuk Isham Ishak: investigation, under investigation. Can To read the complete transcript of the
....The amount, based on facts provided you explain how long [has it been] from hearing, visit the Parliament’s official
by KPMG, did not include the liabilities website to download the 14th PAC full
by the two companies assumed by the report on the AES project.
government.

So, this due diligence has shown that
the overall cost to be borne by the gov-
ernment was RM888.4 million which
was RM495.6 million for ATES and
RM392.8 million for Beta Tegap. The
costs include liabilities borne by the gov-
ernment as well as other issues involv-
ing finances.

wednesday november 24, 2021 5 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Bursa seeks court order to compel
Serba Dinamik to disclose findings of

EY Consulting’s review

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Bursa Ma- by adam aziz to the alleged audit issues regarding Ser-
laysia Securities Bhd is seeking a court theedgemarkets.com ba Dinamik’s financial accounts for the
order to force Serba Dinamik Holdings 12-month period ended Dec 31, 2020
Bhd to disclose the factual findings of the the capital market, inter alia, maintaining (FP20). Serba Dinamik is currently su-
special independent review conducted by a level playing field, advancing the ‘blue ing the stock exchange, its former auditor
Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd (EY sky’ principle and facilitating equal access KPMG, which flagged the audit issues,
Consulting) on its financial accounts. to material information affecting a listed and EY Consulting.
issuer,” Bursa Securities said.
Bursa Securities has initiated a new le- In June, Serba Dinamik was directed by
gal action against Serba Dinamik by fil- “This is paramount to enable Bursa Bursa Securities to appoint EY Consulting
ing an originating summons at the Kuala Securities, who is entrusted with its stat- to undertake a special independent review
Lumpur High Court against the company, utory duties, to ensure an orderly and fair to assess the veracity and accuracy of the
it said in a statement. market in the securities that are traded matters raised by KPMG.
through its facilities and to take all appro-
This is “to order Serba Dinamik to priate actions to secure compliance with In May, KPMG raised several issues in-
make an immediate public announcement its rules,” it added. volving Serba Dinamik’s FP20 accounts in-
of the factual findings update on the special volving transactions, receivables, payables
independent review as at Sept 30, 2021”, The originating summons was filed by and materials on site amounting to over
Bursa Securities said. Bursa Securities under Sections 360(1)(c) RM4.6 billion, and that it was not able to
(i) and/or (ii) (J) and/or (K) and/or (M), identify counterparties in the transactions.
The legal action was taken due to Ser- 360(1)(4) and 360(13)(b) of the Capital
ba Dinamik’s “failure to comply” with Markets and Services Act 2007. The auditor alerted the Securities
the stock exchange’s directive on Oct 22 Commission Malaysia on the audit is-
for the disclosure. Shares of Serba Di- “Bursa Securities wishes to reiterate sues, prompting an investigation by the
namik have since been suspended from that a listed issuer must make immediate regulator, which it said last week was
trading as a result. public disclosure of any material infor- still ongoing.
mation under the MMLR and the factu-
“The court application is brought, in al findings update is material information A month later, Serba Dinamik sued
discharge of the role and responsibili- in accordance with the MMLR. KPMG, alleging that the external audi-
ties of Bursa Securities in regulating the tor had been negligent and breached its
conduct and enforcing compliance with “All investors must be well informed contractual and statutory duties.
the continuing obligations of listed issu- of and given equal access to material in-
ers pursuant to the Main Market Listing formation in order to be able to trade on When Bursa Securities ordered Serba
Requirements (MMLR). equal footing,” Bursa Securities said. Dinamik to reveal the findings on Oct 22,
the oil and gas engineering firm said “there
“This is necessary for the purpose of The latest lawsuit by Bursa Securities were no documents or copy of any doc-
upholding and upkeeping the integrity of added to the series of legal actions related uments that fit the description of ‘factual
findings update as at Sept 30, 2021’ given
to the independent non-executive directors
as at Oct 22, 2021”.

Serba Dinamik added that “any docu-
ment or report from EY Consulting does
not fall within paragraph 9.03 and 9.35A
of the MMLR”.

“EY Consulting is still in the midst of
performing the special independent re-
view,” it added at the time.

Serba Dinamik soon proceeded to sue
Bursa Securities for acting “in excess of
power” when instructing the company to
appoint an auditor to conduct the spe-
cial independent review, and when in-
structing the company to disclose EY
Consulting’s update.

The company later also sued EY Con-
sulting, and sought court declaration that
EY Consulting misrepresented that it
could be appointed to conduct the review.
An initial attempt to block EY Consult-
ing’s release of the findings was, however,
dismissed in court.

wednesday november 24, 2021 6 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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EPF members now at risk of falling
into old-age poverty, says chairman

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): The Em- by Justin Lim & Syafiqah Salim “Other initiatives we are exploring in-
ployees Provident Fund (EPF) has cau- theedgemarkets.com clude the gradual approach towards man-
tioned that its members are at risk of falling dating legal EPF coverage for non-agricul-
into old-age poverty, but vowed to address them stay afloat during these trying times. ture informal sector workers.We will also
poor social protection coverage among Ma- A total of RM101.1 billion have been be advocating our voluntary excess scheme
laysian adults and the issue of inadequate where members can compel their employ-
savings for retirement. withdrawn under the three facilities, which ers to increase their EPF contribution to
is equivalent to 22% of the total of RM530 more than the 11% statutory rate,” he said.
“We have seen how the issue of [saving] billion under the government stimulus pro-
adequacy impacted our members’ future gramme to support Malaysian society as On top of that, Ahmad Badri said fi-
retirement well-being, but there is more a whole. nancial literacy is another area that the
than just the issue of adequacy. Social pro- EPF will be actively advocating through
tection is a human right for all. “The situation is that 48% of EPF tools and education campaigns as follows:
members below age 55 have critically
“This includes those in all forms of low savings. This is a 28% increase in • The Belanjawanku national refer-
work, including those in the formal and in- members reaching critically low EPF ence budget that aims to provide
formal sectors as well,” EPF chairmanTan savings from before the pandemic,” he guidance on everyday budgeting in
Sri Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir said in his highlighted. 11 cities and the Klang Valley;
opening speech remarks at the EPF’s virtual
International SocialWellbeing Conference “In this context, the EPF would like to • A financial planning portal to ena-
(ISWC) 2021 on Tuesday (Nov 23). contribute to improve the well-being of the ble and empower members to plan
people of Malaysia.We are truly supportive their finances and make informed
“To address adequacy of savings and of the government’s Budget 2022 initia- financial decisions; and
retirement income, we need far-reaching tive to extend the i-Saraan programme to
solutions covering an effective safety net include those from age 55 to 60.This will • Member advisory services that of-
programme, comprehensive life-cycle so- make i-Saraan more attractive to those in fer free tailored financial advisory
cial protection systems, robust labour mar- the informal sector to save for their retire- for members to obtain financial ad-
ket and wage policies, sustainable econom- ment,” said Ahmad Badri. vice beyond retirement planning,
ic growth, reskilling and upskilling of the namely i-Lestari, i-Sinar and i-Citra
labour force, as well as policies to encour- According to Ahmad Badri, the EPF which resulted in a total of RM101
age automation and digitalisation to help is set to launch the i-Lindung facility, billion being disbursed to over 7.4
increase productivity,” he added. which allows withdrawals from Account million members.
2 to purchase life and critical illness insur-
He said it is estimated that three out ance through the EPF platform. continues on Page 8
of 10 adults in Malaysia are covered by
some form of social protection, such as “Also to be launched in the first quar- Zahid Izzani Mohd Said/
the government pension scheme and EPF ter of 2022 is the i-Sayang facility, which The Edge
coverage. allows the voluntary transfer of 2% EPF
contributions from the husband’s to the
This translates into 7.5 million out of wife’s account,” he added.
the 23.5 million working age population
that are currently residing in the country,
Ahmad Badri said.

He added that the Covid-19 pandemic
had also shifted the employment landscape
towards informality, with the growth of
the self-employed and informal bracket
expected to increase from the current 5.7
million to 8.8 million in 2040.

Ahmad Badri also highlighted that the
EPF is extremely concerned that the ma-
jority of its members are now at risk of
falling into old-age poverty.

He said the pandemic had exacerbat-
ed the situation for its members as many
now face the risk of having insufficient sav-
ings to live a dignified retirement following
withdrawals of their savings through i-Le-
stari, i-Sinar and i-Citra facilities to help

The situation is that 48% of EPF members
below age 55 have critically low savings,
according to the fund’s chairman.

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 24, 2021 7 THEEDGE CEO MORNING BRIEF

Rising amid adversity

Thirteen nominees for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Malaysia awards
as programme passes two-decade milestone

BY ANANDHI GOPINATH Emerging Entrepreneur category ation (APEC) Secretariat Tan Sri Dr
• Ang Xing Xian, Darrel Ang, Dion Tan and Edwin Tan; Rebecca Sta Maria.
Thirteen outstanding individuals Bay Group Holdings Sdn Bhd (CapBay)
or teams have qualified as top • Vincent Lua, Cravito Holding Sdn Bhd Rao says the panel of judges had
nominees for the annual EY • Aizat Rahim and Lennise Ng, Macro Tech Ventures Sdn Bhd (Dropee) a challenging task in determining this
Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) • Henry Ting, Clickgaming Distribution Group Sdn Bhd (TTRacing) year’s top nominees, as “every one of
2021 Malaysia awards, it was announced their persons, stories and journeys [is]
in a virtual ceremony on Nov 22, which Technology Entrepreneur category inspiring, more so given the unprece-
marks the second consecutive year that • Datuk Foong Wei Kuong, JF Technology Bhd dented challenges they had faced in
the nomination ceremony had to be • Dr Hanafiah Yussof, Robopreneur Sdn Bhd the past months, and now stand[s] as
held in such a setting because of the • Yew Lip Sin, SRKK Group Sdn Bhd testament to their accomplishments
Covid-19 pandemic. and success”.
Woman Entrepreneur category
Winners of the four category awards • Ooi Lay Pheng, Berjayapak Sdn Bhd The Malaysian EOY 2021 top en-
— Emerging, Technology, Women and • Norsharina Mohd Shahar, Gaia Plas Bhd trepreneur will join fellow winners
Master — as well as the coveted EOY • Charmaine Tan Shwu Fen, Siang Pharmacy Sdn Bhd from around the globe in June 2022
2021 Malaysia award will be announced to compete for the EY World Entrepre-
at another virtual ceremony next Feb- Master Entrepreneur category neur Of The Year (WEOY) 2022 award.
ruary, as it is unlikely that a gala event • Datuk Parmjit Singh, Asia Pacific University Sdn Bhd
on a pre-pandemic scale could be held. • Jonathan Kan, ERS Energy Sdn Bhd Although the EOY programme has
• Gan Thiam Chai, Kawan Food Bhd been running for two decades in Ma-
Although a grand occasion to laysia, there has never been a shortage
fete the winners would have been at Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd. A Muhamed and Karex Bhd CEO Goh of nominees, as entrepreneurship is
ideal, as this year happens to be the The nominees were decided by an Mah Kiat, as well as other influential part of the local culture, whether it is a
20th year of the EOY programme in voices — Bursa Malaysia CEO Datuk neighbourhood stall selling nasi lemak
Malaysia, the calibre of all applicants independent panel of judges guided Muhamad Umar Swift, MDEC chief in the morning or a multi-million-dollar
and the tenacity of the final list of by a set of criteria that is consistently marketing officer Raymond Siva, Aeon conglomerate with a global presence.
nominees remain more than worthy applied globally by the programme. Group chief merchandising officer Low To build something of long-term value
of celebration. This year, the panel comprises EOY Ngai Yuen — and executive director takes grit, persistence and a sense of
alumni Hyrax Oil’s Datuk Hazimah of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooper- ambition that is free of doubt or fear,
Commenting on the milestone, Zainuddin, Aerodyne Group’s Kamarul and the EOY programme takes much
programme director Philip Rao, says, joy in celebrating these unstoppable
“As we mark the 20th anniversary of human beings, whose unbounded am-
the EOY programme in Malaysia, we bitions deliver innovation, growth and
are gratified and honoured to have prosperity that transform our world.
had the unique privilege to recognise
and celebrate over 300 remarkable
men and women across generations,
industries and sectors. In the face of
adversity, especially in recent months,
these entrepreneurs continue to rise
up to build a better working world.”

Rao expressed pride at being able
to provide these industry leaders a
platform to share with the rest of the
world their success stories and “more
importantly, their enduring legacy and
far-reaching impact on surrounding
communities and the country”.

“They are relentless in seeking bet-
ter solutions to some of our biggest
challenges and reinventing a future
that transforms our lives. They have
demonstrated their perseverance and
ingenuity in steering their business and
industries forward while supporting their
employees and communities,” says
Rao, who is also a Consulting Partner

wednesday november 24, 2021 8 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): The with- ‘Impossible’ for “But a very interesting, albeit very
drawal of pension funds to mitigate the im- many Malaysians radical solution to the problem of fund-
pact of Covid-19 has aggravated the problem to replenish EPF ing a universal basic pension would be to
of savings inadequacy among Malaysians, Account 1 during take the existing pension funds that we
which could make it impossible for many have, the existing public pension funds,
Malaysians to replenish their Employees rest of working for example, and pull them altogether. If
Provident Fund (EPF) Account 1 fund to life — economist we were to do that we would get some-
meet the minimum threshold set by the where close to RM1.2 trillion in assets
pension fund during the remainder of their by Justin Lim & Syafiqah Salim under management. If we were to invest
working life, said Malaysia University of Sci- theedgemarkets.com at 5%, we would get about RM6 billion
ence andTechnology economist and profes- per year. That type of solution will pro-
sor Dr GeoffreyWilliams. Suhaimi Yusuf/The Edge vide a very generous or relatively gen-
erous living wage pension,” he added.
The EPF has previously stated a drop only and certainly not the main compo-
in savings among its members following nent of the pension scheme. (This is) what Also, another suggestion would be for
three special withdrawals, namely i-Le- we call a universal basic pension.That is, the government to allocate some budget
stari, i-Sinar, and i-Citra, which have led in other words, we need to underpin all into this universal basic pension, as well
to 6.1 million members now having less the pension systems by a non-contribu- as introduce a wage distribution tax for
than RM10,000 in their EPF accounts, tory minimum basic decent income lev- people with the top 20 income (T20)
among whom 3.6 million have less than el pension available to everybody in the tier group, said Williams.
RM1,000, leaving them vulnerable and older age.”
unprotected after their retirement. “In order to do that, we need to have
According to him, a non-contributory a proper fully engaged national discus-
The pension fund also estimated that scheme can be funded by various forms of sion and how we can do it so that it can
members will need to work between an ex- contribution, including investment income be financed. It can be financed relatively
tra four and six years to rebuild the savings from public investment funds because straightforwardly, either just by direct
that were utilised during the pandemic, the EPF and the other public investment government spending by a combination
leading to a significant drop in the percent- funds — such as Retirement Fund, Inc of government spending, investment in-
age of members meeting the basic savings (KWAP) — are actually fairly well-man- come and redistribute taxes, or it can
threshold of RM240,000 by 55 years of aged investment funds that are very good be financed very simply by consolida-
age, from 36% in 2020 to an estimated in delivering risk-adjusted returns in very tions, existing funds into a new pensions
27% by the end of this year. difficult investment environments. scheme. But all of those things require a
significant national discussion and pub-
Against the backdrop of an ageing pop- lic consensus,” he added.
ulation, coupled with as many as 85% of Read also:
Malaysians facing the risk of old-age pov- Social inequalities pose threat to
erty,Williams highlighted there is a greater society, says former UK pension
emphasis needed for a reform of the cur- minister Click here
rent pension structure. New and innovative social protection
solutions urgently needed, says PM
“Working longer adds virtually nothing Click here
to retirement income,” he said at the brief- Payment for Phase 2 of Covid-19
ing of the International Social Wellbeing Special Assistance to be disbursed
Conference 2021 titled “The New Nar- from Thursday — PM Click here
rative: Turning the Tide on Inequality”.

“What we need is to weigh on a single
figure pension system based on contri-
butions from wages and to move towards
a more structured pension scheme, or a
more comprehensive pension scheme in
which that proportion of contributions
from wages remains as a significant com-
ponent of the pension scheme, but isn’t the

from Page 6 has been festering well before the pandem- “We have with us at this conference
ic.These initiatives can only be temporary not just the policymakers of Malay-
Addressing inequality in times of fixes and not long-term solutions that are sia, but also members of the public. In
Covid-19 able to protect the lives and livelihoods the spirit of democratising knowledge
Meanwhile, EPF chief executive officer of the people,” Amir Hamzah said in his for all, this year we have opened the
Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan ex- preliminary remarks. ISWC for all at no cost. With this, we
pressed that one of the most worrying hope with a good mix of participation,
concerns exposed by the pandemic is the With this dire situation in mind, Amir no rock is left unturned in discussing
intensified issue of inequality. Hamzah said the theme chosen for this and finding resolutions to the issue of
year’s ISWC is “The New Narrative: inequality and its many different fac-
“While many nations have tried to Turning the Tide on Inequality”. The ets that include economic inequality,
stem the impact through intensive and, conference will be discussing in depth healthcare inequality, education ine-
may I say, short-term mobilisation of re- the role of social protection in reducing quality and gender inequality,” he said.
sources in order to eradicate or at least inequality.
reduce the blow, the issue of inequality

wednesday november 24, 2021 9 TheEdge CEO morning brief

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Axiata unit
edotco is in
talks to buy
Touch Matrix

IRB CEO: of it is actually historical data that we have by Elffie Chew & Yantoultra Ngui
RM139.3b collected over a period of several years, Bloomberg
and also looking at the outlook,” he added.
revenue (Nov 23): edotco Group Sdn Bhd,
projection from Meanwhile, Mohd Nizom said Ma- a unit of Malaysia’s biggest mo-
2022 direct taxes laysia’s direct taxes-to-GDP ratio is on bile-phone carrier, is in exclusive
a downward trend since 2019, at 9.5%, talks to buy telecommunications in-
achievable which is 1.7 points lower than the Organ- frastructure provider Touch Matrix
isation for Economic Co-operation and Sdn Bhd, people with knowledge of
Bernama Development (OECD) average. the matter said.

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): The pro- “It was on a declining trend from 2020, Touch Matrix’s owners are seek-
jected revenue from direct taxes of approxi- which stood at 8.4%, and it is estimated ing as much as 1.8 billion ringgit
mately RM139.3 billion in 2022 is a realis- that the ratio will be at 7.9% for 2022,” (US$430 million) for the builder and
tic, reasonable, as well as achievable target, said Mohd Nizom. lessor of wireless towers, said one of
said Inland Revenue Board (IRB) chief the people, asking not to be identi-
executive officer Datuk Mohd Nizom Sairi. As for the indirect taxes-to-GDP ratio, fied as the process is private. edotco
he said Malaysia only stood at 3.2% and is a unit of Axiata Group Bhd.
He said the estimated revenue is pro- is far below the OECD average of 10.9%.
jected from the gross collection of direct Deliberations are still ongoing
taxes as a whole, including corporate, pe- “Based on these statistics, we can con- and the owners of Touch Matrix
troleum, individual and other taxes, before clude that our tax structure is heavily re- could decide to keep the business,
payment of refund claims. liant on direct taxes compared to indirect the people said.
taxes.
“The target is along the lines of the Edotco said in an email that it’s
projected 5.9% gross domestic product “The direct and indirect taxes propor- always in the market for “strategic
(GDP) growth as announced by the gov- tion based on OECD average is about 50- organic and inorganic growth oppor-
ernment,” he said at the 47thTaxMax we- 50%. But in our case, it is about a 75-25% tunities,” but declined to comment.
binar series, themed “Building resilience ratio between direct and indirect taxes,” It will announce any new develop-
for tomorrow”, organised by Deloitte Tax he said. ments when it’s ready, it said.
Academy.
Looking at the trends, Mohd Nizom Touch Matrix, a licensed network
Mohd Nizom noted the projected reve- opined that Malaysia’s tax system needs facility provider in the Southeast
nue from corporate income tax for 2022 is to move towards the current trend of wid- Asian nation’s Pahang state, is linked
slightly more than the collection in 2019, ening its tax base to involve more popu- to some of the local royal families,
before the Covid-19 pandemic began. lation such as the introduction of a con- according to data from the Compa-
sumption tax. nies Commission of Malaysia.
“In terms of projected revenue that the
government can expect from the economy “People will argue, from an equitable Touch Mindscape Sdn., a unit of
next year, we looked at several factors, part perspective, whether it is fair to tax dif- conglomerate Touch Group Hold-
ferent income brackets at the same time, ings, holds 80% of Touch Matrix,
so we will have to strike a balance, but we while the rest is held by Yayasan
can no longer deny the fact that the trend Pahang, a foundation run by the
is heading that way. state’s government, the regulator’s
data show.
“Not only will it widen the tax net, but
we can also agree that it is a more efficient Representatives forTouch Mind-
way of collecting the taxes with [less] room scape,Touch Matrix andYayasan Pa-
for leakages,” he added. hang didn’t immediately respond to
requests for comment.

Dealmaking in Southeast Asia
involving digital infrastructure has
been on the rise amid global tech-
nology rollouts. The Philippines’
PLDT Inc, Indonesia’s PT Tower
Bersama Infrastructure and Malay-
sia’s U Mobile Sdn Bhd are among
companies exploring sales of their
wireless towers, Bloomberg News has
reported.

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High Court allows FELDA and FIC’s bid
to strike out Synergy Promenade suit to get

vacant possession of Semarak land

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): The High by izzul ikram Synergy Promenade sued FELDA and
Court here on Tuesday (Nov 23) allowed theedgemarkets.com FIC in July 2019, as it was supposed to
the Federal Land Development Authority develop the 24 parcels measuring 20.66
(FELDA) and its subsidiary Felda Invest- Justice Azimah, in allowing FELDA and acres (8.6ha) owned by FELDA.
ment Corp Sdn Bhd’s (FIC) application to FIC’s application, also ordered Synergy
strike out Synergy Promenade Sdn Bhd’s Promenade to pay RM10,000 costs. In the suit, the company had sought
suit to get vacant possession of the prime a decree of specific performance against
Semarak land. This was confirmed by Kumar Kana- FELDA and FIC, requiring them to
gasingam, counsel for FELDA and FIC, comply with the agreement, and also a
This came on the heels of Justice Datuk when contacted by theedgemarkets.com. consequential order directing the latter
Azimah Omar allowing FELDA and FIC’s Appearing with Kumar from the firm to deliver the vacant possession of the
application to strike out Synergy Prome- Lee Hishammuddin Allen and Gledhill aforementioned parcels of land to Syn-
nade’s suit on the grounds that the agree- were Mong Chung Seng and Medha Ong ergy Promenade.
ment, which required FELDA to deliver Ann Tin.
vacant possession of the land, was illegal Meanwhile, FELDA and FIC in Novem-
and unenforceable pursuant to Section 3 of Synergy Promenade was represented ber 2019 also filed a RM2 billion lawsuit
the Land Development Act 1956 (LDA). by RK Sharma and Amrit Pal. against former chairmanTan Sri Mohd Isa
Abdul Samad and Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul
Section 3(3)(c) of the Land Develop- It was previously reported that Syner- Samad, together with various former FEL-
ment Act 1956 states that FELDA has gy Promenade signed an agreement with DA director-generals as well as Synergy
to obtain the approval of the minister in FIC on June 2, 2014, under which the Promenade, Synergy Promenade KLVC
charge of the authority to enter into a part- former was appointed as the sole devel- Sdn Bhd and lawyers over the KLVC project.
nership, joint venture, undertaking, coop- oper of the Kuala Lumpur Vertical City
eration in any manner. (KLVC) project — a mixed development FELDA and FIC alleged that these par-
on 24 parcels of land owned by FELDA ties had jointly conspired for “the plunder-
“The development agreement was exe- along Jalan Semarak. ing” of FELDA and FIC through unlawful
cuted in contravention of Section 3 of the means, resulting in the injuries of — and a
Land Development Act 1956 as the con- According to Synergy Promenade’s loss suffered by — both of them.
sent of the then minister was not obtained, statement of claim, under the agreement,
which rendered the development agree- FIC was required to deliver vacant posses- According to news reports, FELDA
ment illegal and unenforceable,” Justice sion of the land within 30 days of signing and FIC in December 2020 sought to
Azimah said via the online video hearing the agreement on June 2, 2014, and also consolidate the trials of its RM2 billion
this morning. ensure that the vacant possession would suit with other ongoing trials involving the
not be revoked by FELDA prior to the same parties.
The court also found that the Synergy completion of the project.
Promenade claim was plainly and obvious- The consolidation of trials that FELDA
ly unsustainable and the execution of the The master developer of the KLVC and FIC seek includes several lawsuits that
development agreement was ultra vires of project claimed that in or around Janu- Synergy Promenade and Synergy Prome-
the LDA which rendered the agreement ary 2016, FELDA and FIC had merely nade KLVC have filed separately against
illegal and unenforceable. delivered vacant possession of one parcel Shahrir and several media organisations
of land to the company. for defamation.

W E D N E S D A Y N O V E M B E R 2 4 , 2 0 2 1 11 T H E E D G E C E O M O R N I N G B R I E F

The
world’s ƈrst
digital bank

And how and why it came to pass

I n October 1994, Stanford Credit Union in the
US became the first institution globally to let its
customers access banking functions via the new
World Wide Web, according to Forbes.

On Oct 6, 1995, Presidential became the first US
bank to offer its bank accounts over the internet.

And only in 1997 did the bank begin to offer online account

statements and real time PC banking, such as fund transfers

between accounts in the bank.

In June 1995, in Malaysia, Phileo Allied Bank launched

PalDirect, an online banking and stock trading platform, after

18 months of research and development. Transaction value

exceeded RM200 million within a month, with exponential

growth onwards.

On Aug 8, 1996, Phileo launched PALWORLD, an e-commerce

and payment platform via Windows that allowed online

shopping, airline ticketing and so on. (Note, Alibaba was founded

on April 4, 1999, and Amazon went into online bookselling in July

1995).

In September 1996, ONE Account was created by Phileo,

which combined all the deposits, loans and trading accounts of

its customers into one, and was enabled online.

While Alibaba and Amazon grew into global giants, Phileo

was forcefully taken over under the guise of consolidating the

banking sector and died prematurely. The moral of the story is

that property rights, governance and rule of law are extremely

important. This book, published in 2003, gives some insight into

the above … and some stories yet to be told.

November 2021

The book was published in 2003.

Limited print copies in English available on
books.theedgemarkets.com and Shopee.
Hard cover: RM70 | Soft cover: RM45
* FREE delivery within Malaysia for purchases via
books.theedgemarkets.com

OR

download the digital editions absolutely FREE.
* Available in English, Bahasa Melayu & Chinese.

Scan the QR code now for more information.

w e d n e s d a y n o v e m b e r 2 4 , 2 0 2 1 12 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

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US investigators question Goodyear
Malaysia workers over labour practices

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): US gov- by Mei Mei Chu & A Ananthalakshmi thorities over alleged exploitation by plan-
ernment investigators have interviewed Reuters tations and factories of migrant workers,
workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co’s on whom the Southeast Asian nation relies.
Malaysian factory about their working con- reuters
ditions, employees told Reuters, intensifying Goodyear Malaysia is already being in-
scrutiny of potential labour abuses by the represented in the labour dispute. vestigated by the US Customs and Border
tyre maker in the country. The company argued in court that for- Protection over its labour practices, accord-
ing to Liberty Shared, a rights group that
The questioning by the Department of eign workers are not entitled to the benefits petitioned customs for the probe. Customs
Homeland Security could lead to US pros- of the collective agreement because they can ban imports of goods it finds to be
ecutions of one of the world’s biggest tyre are not union members. It has declined to made with forced labour.
makers, which faces related lawsuits and comment on the allegations.
two ongoing investigations by regulators Goodyear did not respond to a query
in Malaysia and the US, each looking into Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), Ma- on the MAPO investigation.
potential exploitation of foreign workers. laysia’s largest fund manager which owns
49% of Goodyear Malaysia, did not re- The company told Reuters in July it was
Five current and former Goodyear Ma- spond to requests for comments. not aware of the petition to US customs
laysia staff said Homeland Security Investi- Focus on forced labour and that it had strong policies to protect
gations (HSI) agents had asked about their Representatives of the Malaysian govern- human rights.
working and living conditions, details of ment’s Council for Anti-Trafficking in
court cases they filed against Goodyear, Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants The HSI can initiate criminal inves-
a police complaint alleging threats from (MAPO) were also on some of the video tigations and coordinate potential crim-
Goodyear staff and workplace accidents. calls with the HSI, the five workers said. inal prosecutions of American firms and
US-bound supply chains whose goods are
In video calls over the past 11 months Former MAPO head Mohd Hadzwan made by means of forced labour, accord-
or more, the agents of the main criminal Zulkefle, who workers said was on the calls, ing to its website.
investigation unit of the Department of told Reuters the agency had opened an in-
Homeland Security also requested docu- vestigation into Goodyear Malaysia over A formal HSI investigation “would be
ments relating to their employment, said labour trafficking. He did not say when extremely significant because it will move
the workers, who asked not to be identified MAPO started the probe, which had not the discussion on forced labour from busi-
because they feared reprisals. previously been reported. ness ethics and sustainability into one that
relates to criminal law”, said Duncan Jep-
Reuters could not determine the spe- He declined to comment on wheth- son, the managing director of Hong Kong-
cific violations that the HSI is seeking to er MAPO is collaborating with US au- based Liberty Shared.
establish. thorities.
However, Jepson said one challenge to
The HSI said it does not comment on A MAPO spokesperson told Reuters it establishing wrongdoing would be a lack
ongoing investigations. was aware of “the alleged forced labour of precedent.
issue” at Goodyear Malaysia, and that the
Ohio-based Goodyear said it is commit- issue is under investigation by “responsi- In the US, he said, “Law enforcement
ted to ensuring its supply chain practices ble parties”. and attorneys prefer to have previous cases
adhere to laws and to its own policies. to support their strategies and in forced la-
The Department of Labour of Penin- bour, there are no previous criminal cases
“Goodyear and Goodyear Malaysia are sular Malaysia, which last year charged against transnational corporations.”
currently undertaking a thorough review Goodyear Malaysia with violating labour
of the matter, including retaining an in- laws, did not respond to a request for com- Documents previously seen by Reuters
dependent social auditing firm to inspect ments. Goodyear has not commented on show some Goodyear Malaysia workers
working and housing conditions,” Good- the labour department charges. logging as much as 229 hours of overtime
year told Reuters in an emailed statement. a month, more than twice the maximum
Goodyear did not identify the audit firm. The US State Department in July allowed under Malaysian law.Workers said
downgraded Malaysia to its worst rank- money was wrongfully deducted from their
The HSI questioning follows initial al- ing on human trafficking after a string of salaries and that the company was denying
legations filed in three complaints by 185 complaints by rights groups and US au- them free access to their passports.
migrant workers from Nepal, India and
Myanmar — including the five who spoke Goodyear has declined to comment on
to Reuters — against Goodyear Malaysia in the allegations, citing court proceedings.
the country’s industrial court in 2019 and
2020. They alleged unpaid wages, citing Malaysia’s Labour Department said in
non-compliance with a collective agree- May it had charged Goodyear in 2020 for
ment, wrongful deductions and threats to nine violations of labour laws, unrelated
migrant workers. to the lawsuits, regarding excessive hours
and wrongful salary deductions.
In 2020 and in June, the court ordered
Goodyear to pay back wages to some work- The five workers interviewed by Reuters
ers and comply with the agreement. The said they told the HSI investigators they
company has appealed against the verdicts. were not happy with facilities the company
provided, that their hostels were congested,
Goodyear told Reuters it had now com- they paid recruitment fees in their home
mitted to a settlement with the workers countries, and did not get salary increases
and allowances that they were eligible for.

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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Despite S P Setia returns In terms of launches, the group launched
lower revenue, S P Setia Bhd returned to to the black projects totalling RM1.5 billion in gross de-
the black in the third quarter ended Sept in 3QFY21, velopment value (GDV), mainly compris-
30, 2021 (3QFY21), registering a net prof- registering ing landed terrace houses and semi-detached
it of RM11.01 million from a net loss of homes, in the cumulative nine months ended
RM267.01 million a year earlier.The latest RM11m net profit Sept 30, 2021 (9MFY21).
performance was supported by lower oper-
ational cost of sales and a narrowing share by Tan Siew Mung For 9MFY21, the group also returned
of losses from its joint-venture companies. theedgemarkets.com to the black by posting a net profit of
RM161.05 million versus a net loss of
In a statement to Bursa Malaysia on of achieving the sales target for FY21 while RM377.25 million a year ago.
Tuesday (Nov 23), the property developer remaining steadfast in our de-gearing ini-
said its revenue fell 44.97% to RM594.55 tiatives to pare down borrowings and op- Revenue for the period rose 29.12% to
million for 3QFY21 from RM1.08 billion timising our capital structure to strength- RM2.73 billion from RM2.11 billion the
the year before. en our platform in pursuit of sustainable year before. On a quarter-on-quarter ba-
growth. We are optimising the use of our sis, net profit fell 85.28% from RM74.81
The group did not declare any dividend land bank to accelerate strategic develop- million for 2QFY21, while revenue slid
for the latest quarter. ment while ensuring alignment with the 45.09% from RM1.08 billion.
group’s environment, social and govern-
S P Setia said the group posted a lower ance agenda as a responsible developer in Commenting on its prospects, S P Setia
revenue for property development as the building a sustainable community for all.” said it remains positive to achieve the sales
site progress of ongoing projects was sig- target of RM3.8 billion for FY21 after achiev-
nificantly disrupted by the third movement ing total sales of RM3.38 billion in 9MFY21.
control order (MCO 3.0) from June 1.
At the same time, it noted that initia-
It also explained that its 3QFY20 results tives to pare down borrowings, strengthen
were adversely impacted by the group equi- its capital structure, digital transformation
ty accounts for its 40% share of the impair- and sustainability will remain key priorities
ment recognised by the Battersea Power of the group.
Station project of £62.4 million (RM336.3
million) in the quarter. “Underpinned by an unbilled sales pipe-
line of RM9.84 billion, 48 ongoing projects
“Nonetheless, it is encouraging to note and its effective remaining land bank of
that the group maintained a favourable 7,334 acres (about 2,968 hectares) with
sales momentum with total sales achieved a GDV of RM124.6 billion as at Sept 30,
to date (as of 3QFY21) of RM3.38 billion, 2021, the group is well positioned to cap-
approximately 89% of the full-year sales ture market opportunities,” it said.
target of RM3.8 billion,” S P Setia noted
in the filing. At the time of writing onTuesday, S P Se-
tia had fallen three sen or 2.16% to RM1.35,
In a separate statement, Datuk Choong valuing the group at RM5.65 billion.
KaiWai, the president and chief executive
officer of S P Setia said: “We are confident Year to date, the counter had risen
39.18%.

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Leong Hup Leong Hup posts dously from RM447.24 million.
International Bhd (LHI) reported a net loss net loss of RM53m Commenting on the group’s finan-
of RM53.42 million or loss per share of 1.46 in 3Q as lockdowns
sen in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 cial performance, LHI executive direc-
(3QFY21) from a net profit of RM22.53 affected all tor/group chief executive officer Tan Sri
million or earnings per share (EPS) of 0.62 demand channels Francis Lau said business conditions re-
sen in the previous year as broad-based lock- main tough and demand is still hovering
downs negatively affected all demand chan- by Sulhi Khalid below pre-Covid-19 levels.
nels after economic activities were signifi- theedgemarkets.com
cantly scaled back during the quarter. “As we deploy business recovery meas-
For the cumulative nine months ended on ures, cost leadership remains an important
In a Bursa Malaysia filing on Tuesday Sept 30, 2021, the group’s net profit declined and ongoing agenda.
(Nov 23), the group said its quarterly by 21.74% to RM47.42 million or EPS of
revenue surged 14.98% to RM1.81 bil- 1.3 sen from RM60.59 million or EPS of “The group’s downstream play contin-
lion against RM1.57 billion due to high- 1.66 sen while revenue went up by 20.45% ues to be a key strategic focus, as we seek to
er revenues reported from its Indonesia to RM5.34 billion from RM4.43 billion. diversify LHI’s revenue base, reinvest into
and Malaysia segments. profitable growth and deepen integration
On a quarterly basis, the group turned within the poultry value chain.
The group highlighted the increase in rev- to a net loss in 3QFY21 from a net prof-
enue from Indonesia was primarily due to it of RM24.42 million or EPS of 0.84 “We look forward to the group emerging
higher sales volume of broiler chickens, as sen in the immediate preceding quarter from the Covid-19 pandemic stronger and
well as favourable average selling prices of (2QFY21) while revenue surged tremen- more nimble,” he said in a statement.
day-old chicks and broiler chickens.
In addition, the group said it remains vig-
Meanwhile, higher revenue from Malay- ilant but cautiously optimistic and it high-
sia was mainly due to an increase in average lighted the group has adequate liquidity for
selling price of eggs, as well as the expan- operations and is well positioned to capture
sion of its downstream business-to-con- opportunities as the market recovers.
sumer channel from June 2020.
Shares in LHI closed 1.5 sen or 2.63%
lower at 55.5 sen onTuesday, giving it a mar-
ket value of RM2.03 billion.

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Batu Kawan 4Q enue rose 29% to RM20.72 billion, from AAX’s 1Q net
profit more than RM16.08 billion a year earlier. loss widens

triples, lifting In its prospects, the group expects its from preceding
annual profit to plantation segment to continue its strong quarter to
record high of performance into the current financial RM149m
year ending Sept 30, 2022, helped by
RM1.15 bil higher CPO prices. by Ahmad Naqib Idris
theedgemarkets.com
by Ahmad Naqib Idris It said its oleochemical division ex-
theedgemarkets.com pects to maintain its performance for KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23):AirAsia
FY22, despite ongoing challenges from X Bhd (AAX) posted a bigger net loss
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Batu Ka- volatile raw material price movements of RM149.14 million for its first quar-
wan Bhd posted a 262% spike in its net and logistic issues caused by the Cov- ter ended Sept 30, 2021 (1QFY22),
profit to RM308.04 million for the fourth id-19 pandemic. compared with RM24.63 billion in the
financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 immediate preceding quarter.
(4QFY21), from RM85.17 million in the “As for the group’s industrial chemi-
previous year’s corresponding quarter, cal division, given the strong prevailing The net loss in the preceding quar-
helped by higher crude palm oil (CPO) caustic soda prices, a better performance ter was contributed by a provision for
and palm kernel (PK) prices. is expected in FY22. the amount payable to creditors, with
the low-cost carrier in default under
Quarterly revenue grew 50% to Batu Kawan’s net profit over the terms of the contract.
RM6.16 billion, from RM4.12 billion. the past five years
Revenue for the quarter under re-
Its performance for the quarter un- Net pro t (RM mil) 1,146.93 view stood at RM99.27 million, ver-
der review was supported by a surplus 1200 sus RM72.26 million in the preceding
of RM4.26 million on sales of land and quarter, AAX’s bourse filing showed.
government acquisitions, offset by for- 1000
eign currency exchange translation loss of There is no comparative financial
RM2.24 million on intercompany loans 800 information available for the same
denominated in foreign currencies, and quarter last year, as the group changed
a RM61.88 million impairment on an 600 586.65 its financial year end from Dec 31,
estate in Liberia. 400 365.68 363.50 417.28 2020 to June 30, 2021.

Excluding the non-operational items, 200 AAX said it convened a meeting
it said its pre-tax profit would have been of its creditors to consider the pro-
RM951.47 million. 0 posed debt restructuring, which was
FY FY FY FY FY approved by 100% of the ClassA cred-
Segmentally, Batu Kawan said its 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 itors, 97.56% of the Class B creditors
plantation operations posted a three- and 100% of the Class C creditors.
fold increase in profit to RM594.25 mil- Source: Bursa Malaysia
lion, amid higher CPO and PK selling It said the proposed debt restruc-
prices, profit contribution from IJM “The group therefore expects to main- turing has accordingly been approved
Plantations Bhd, and better profit con- tain a strong performance for FY22,” it by the scheme creditors and now re-
tribution from processing and trading said. mains subject to sanction by the High
operations. Court.
Batu Kawan’s share price went up
The manufacturing segment’s profit four sen to RM21.90 on Tuesday (Nov “Subject to the sanction of the pro-
grew 29% to RM168.01 million, contrib- 23), giving it a market capitalisation of posed debt restructuring by the High
uted by better performance of its oleo- RM8.75 billion. Court of Malaya, the proposed capital
chemical division China and Europe, as reduction and fundraising exercise, ap-
well as its industrial chemical division, Year-to-date, the counter has gained proved by the company’s sharehold-
which benefited from higher sales volume 22.4% from RM17.90. ers at the EGM (extraordinary general
and selling prices of caustic soda. meeting) held on June 1, 2021, will
More corporate results: commence.
However, its property development KLK’s 4Q profit jumps threefold on
segment did not fare as well. The seg- higher CPO prices, contribution from “The fundraising exercise intends
ment posted a 51% decline in profit to IJM Plantations Click here to raise sufficient capital to restart op-
RM14.6 million on lower revenue. erations when international borders
Boustead Plantations 3Q net profit reopen, and provide sufficient liquid-
Quarter-on-quarter, Batu Kawan’s net jumps five-fold to RM95.56m on ity to allow the company to meet its
profit fell 20% from RM386.47 million, higher CPO prices Click here financial obligations,” said AAX.
despite a 14% increase in revenue from
RM5.4 billion. TSH Resources’s 3Q net profit up 87% AAX’s share price fell one sen or
to RM45.08m on higher CPO prices 12.5% to seven sen, giving the group
For the financial year ended Sept 30, Click here market capitalisation of RM290.37
2021 (FY21), its net profit leaped to a million.
record high of RM1.15 billion, surging
175% from RM417.28 million, while rev-

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Ministry expects “Later, we see that the renewable ener- Unsold houses
CPO prices to gy directive too has categorised palm oil as dropped slightly
indirect land use change (ILUC) and will to 30,290 units
trend downwards phase out palm oil-based biofuel gradually
on bearish in 2030,” he said. in 3Q, Dewan
Rakyat heard
market sentiment He said recently, palm oil was the only
target for high ILUC and as soybean oil had Bernama
Bernama been taken out of the list, many countries,
especially European Union (EU) member KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23):A total
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23):The Min- states, had begun to transpose the Europe- of 30,290 units of completed houses
istry of Plantation Industries and Com- an Union Renewable Energy Directive II worth RM19.75 billion nationwide
modities (MPIC) expects crude palm oil (EU RED II) into their local law, indirectly were unsold as at the third quarter
(CPO) prices to trend downwards as more banning or rather putting palm oil-based of this year (3Q21), compared with
producing countries are able to harvest biodiesel at a disadvantage position. 31,112 units worth RM20.1 billion
the fruits, its secretary-general Datuk Ravi as of 2Q21, the Dewan Rakyat was
Muthayah said. Moreover, he said palm oil had often told onTuesday (Nov 23).
been linked to food safety and health issues,
He said with export opening up the such as containing high 3-monochloropro- Deputy Housing and Local Gov-
markets, the MPIC believes prices will pane diol (3-MCPD) and recently mineral ernment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Is-
soften a bit and this may also lead to a hydrocarbon oil presence in some products. mail Abdul Mutalib said this showed
bearish market sentiment. a drop of 2.64% in number and
“These are some of the challenges 1.74% in value of unsold units quar-
“The recent crude palm oil price ral- posed by the industry and it is imperative ter-on-quarter based on data from Na-
ly since June 2020 was driven by supply for us to counter-narrate the claims with tional Property Information Centre
disruptions in key edible oils, as well as evidence-based facts to ensure a more sus- (NAPIC).
the palm oil producing regions, and crude tainable industry,” he said.
palm oil has traded about US$1,230 “Although not obvious, there
(about RM5,160) per tonne. On the OCOPOP organised by the was a drop in the number of un-
Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries sold houses after some developers
“As we have seen on Oct 15, this is also (CPOPC), he said the objective of the we- reduced prices or gave discounts to
a historic price in the palm oil industry,” binar is to provide a platform for interaction clear the overhang in supply amid
he said in his opening remarks at the vir- and discussions for all stakeholders, espe- the uncertain economy.
tual forum on the “Outlook for Challenges cially on three key aspects of the palm oil
and Opportunities for Palm Oil Producers” industry in relation to supply, demand as “This was proven by a drop in
(OCOPOP) on Tuesday (Nov 23). well as prices in the global market. the house price index in 3Q21 to
198.6 points compared with 199.9
Ravi hopes producing countries, includ- “There is a need to develop a balanced points in 3Q20, representing a drop
ing Malaysia, take appropriate measures to supply and demand strategy to ensure that of 0.7%,” he said during the ques-
ensure a fair price, as well as be prepared market prices remain remunerative for the tion-and-answer session.
to face any kind of challenges, especially industry, so that it provides sustainable
from the market which has a negative sen- livelihoods for smallholders as well. He was answering a question
timent on palm oil. from Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub
“The discussion on formulating strategies (Barisan Nasional-Machang) on
“The series of negative narratives to- for sustainable supply,demand and remuner- the number of unsold houses as of
wards palm oil is a never-ending issue; we ative prices of palm oil will focus on concerns September.
have seen it started with reports claiming faced by producers. Hopefully, this will find More Parliament stories:
palm oil is filled with saturated fat contrib- ways to improve collaborations to mitigate Bung Moktar suggests
uting to coronary heart disease. threats, challenges and to develop oppor- establishment of multi-stream
tunities for palm oil producers,” he added. unity schools Click here
Read also: FEPO contract will strengthen Gerakan president Dominic,
derivative offerings, says Zuraida Click here TalentCorp director Nelson take
oath as senators Click here
Bloomberg Draft of new act on tobacco,
e-cigarette to be tabled in
Parliament next year Click here

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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23):The govern- Govt launches (M) Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, HSBC
ment has launched the Green ElectricityTariff Green Electricity Amanah Malaysia Bhd, MCIS Insurance
(GET) to allow subscribers to use electricity Bhd, and Zurich General Insurance M Bhd.
generated from renewable energy sources to Tariff for
reduce their carbon footprint. renewable energy The energy ministry has also committed
to subscribe to GET for 31% of the elec-
The initiative underlines some 4,500 giga- subscription, tricity requirement at Wisma Sumber Asli
watt hour of electricity from renewable energy replaces myGreen+ in Putrajaya, the statement said.
(RE) sources per annum, said the Ministry of
Energy and Natural Resources in a statement. by Adam Aziz Three of the ministry’s agencies have
theedgemarkets.com also committed to procuring 100% of their
“GET subscribers will be charged an ad- electricity requirement from GET, name-
ditional payment of 3.7 sen per kilowatt hour scription of 100 kWh blocks of electricity ly the Energy Commission, Sustainable
of RE bought through the programme. from RE at eight sen/kWh. Energy Development Authority Malaysia
(SEDA), and MyPOWER Corp.
“They will also receive a certificate from At GET’s launch onTuesday (Nov 23),
the Malaysia Renewable Energy Certificates nine companies gave their undertaking to Subscription to GET is open from Dec
(mREC) which is registered with interna- procure electricity from RE sources under 1, and the programme will begin to channel
tional certification bodies to certify that the the GET programme, namely CIMB Bank RE electricity supply from Jan 1.
electricity supply is from RE sources,” the Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd,
ministry said. Gamuda Bhd, Nestle (M) Bhd, Opensys “Users interested to subscribe to GET
can apply via the official website or branches
“Proceeds from the GET sale will be of Tenaga Nasional Bhd,” the energy min-
used to support the nation’s RE develop- istry said.
ment initiatives and agenda,” it added. Read also: Malaysia remains preferred RE
market in region butVietnam is getting strong,
The ministry said that with the new saysTNB official Click here
programme, the myGreen+ programme
introduced in 2021 will be ended. The
myGreen+ programme provided a sub-

Analysts cut AirAsia Group Bhd rating
AirAsia earnings
forecasts after 3Q Firm Recommendation Target price (RM)
results came in
below expectations Affin Hwang Investment Bank Buy 1.15

by Tan Siew Mung BNP Paribas Asia Reduce 0.61
theedgemarkets.com
CGS-CIMB Reduce 0.14
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Analysts on
Tuesday cut their earnings forecasts for AirA- Credit Suisse Neutral 0.92
sia Group Bhd after the airline’s third quarter
ended Sept 30, 2021 (3QFY21) results came DBS Bank Fully valued 0.55
in below their expectations.
Kenanga Research Underperform 0.70
Kenanga Research analyst Raymond Choo
said in a note on Tuesday that AirAsia’s results Macquarie Underperform 0.50
came in below his expectations due to low-
er-than-expected passengers and higher-than-ex- Maybank Kim Eng Buy 1.31
pected losses from its digital businesses.
Nomura Reduce 0.78
This prompted him to cut his FY21 earn-
ings estimate for AirAsia by 17% to a net loss UOB Kay Hian Hold 0.92
of RM2.41 billion. He reiterated “underper-
form” on the counter with an unchanged target Source: Bloomberg
price (TP) of 70 sen.
AirAsia’s net loss for 3QFY21 expanded 4.1% changed 7.5 times 2022 estimated enterprise val-
According to Choo, AirAsia’s longer-term to RM887 million from RM851.78 million a ue-to-earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation
fortune rests on how successfully it can turn year ago, while revenue fell 36.9% to RM295.89 and amortisation (EV/EBITDA) ratio,” he said.
around and transform itself into a digital travel million from RM468.94 million. The net loss
and lifestyle company.“Faced with negative op- was due to continued travel restrictions in the Chow, however, maintained his “buy” call
erating cash flow and negative equity — book Malaysian and Indonesian markets, besides its on AirAsia as he anticipates an improvement
value per share projected at -RM0.87 — it is investment in technology, talent and network as in the aviation market outlook and positive
urgently resolving its liquidity and capital ad- it continued to scale up its digital Super App and progress in AirAsia’s fundraising initiatives. He
equacy issues via cash calls, which we believe its air cargo divisionTeleport. also expects AirAsia to have sufficient liquidity
will not be the last,” he said. in 2021 and 2022.
For the nine months ended Sept 30, 2021,
its net loss narrowed to RM2.23 billion from Meanwhile, UOB Kay Hian analyst Jack
RM2.66 billion, though revenue fell 65.77% Goh raised his full FY21 loss estimate for
to RM1.02 billion from RM2.97 billion. AirAsia by 19% to RM2.37 billion, following
continued travel restrictions amid Covid-19
Affin Hwang Investment Bank analyst Isaac infections, but upgraded AirAsia to “hold”
Chow also said AirAsia’s results were disappoint- and revised up his TP to 92 sen from 54 sen.
ing due to weak aviation revenue and steep-
er-than-expected losses from its digital businesses. “Positively, we believe that the worst is likely
to be over for the carrier after having garnered
He expects AirAsia to report larger net losses sufficient cash flow through various funding
of RM2.5 billion and RM303 million for FY21 exercises, and with the region’s stellar vacci-
and FY22, from net losses of RM2.1 billion and nation milestones, easing of travel restrictions
RM157 million respectively, after incorporating and resumption of flights boosting a meaning-
lower aviation revenue and higher losses from ful recovery from 4QFY21,” he said.
its digital businesses. “In tandem, we lower our
TP to RM1.15 (from RM1.60) based on an un- AirAsia shares settled three sen or 2.91% low-
er at RM1, valuing the group at RM4.01 billion.

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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): Former Najib seeks The election on Nov 20 saw BN win 21 out
premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak on adjournment of 28 seats in the state legislative assembly.
Tuesday applied to the Court of Appeal of Dec 8 SRC
to postpone the delivery of its decision conviction appeal Najib, who had also applied to the court
on his appeal to set aside his conviction decision day for a return of his passport, left for Sin-
and sentence in the SRC International gapore on Nov 22 to be with Nooryana.
Sdn Bhd case. by hafiz yatim
theedgemarkets.com If the former premier succeeds in over-
Earlier in the day, the Office of the Chief turning his conviction in the SRC case, he
Registrar, Federal Court of Malaysia, said Najib in his application suggested that will be able to contest in the next general
in a statement that Dec 8 had been fixed Court of Appeal announce its decision election. He has been the BN member of
to deliver the decision on Najib’s appeal in the following week, between Dec 13 parliament (MP) for Pekan since 1976 af-
against the High Court’s verdict to find and 17. ter succeeeding his late father Tun Abdul
him guilty of misappropriating RM42 mil- Razak Hussein.
lion of SRC funds and sentence him to 12 However, the dates of Dec 13 to 17
years in jail and a fine of RM210 million. will clash with the hearing dates of the If the conviction is upheld, he will then
ongoing 1MDB-Tanore trial presided by be out of running — at least pending his
The reason cited by Najib in seeking to Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, next appeal — as a person is disquali-
adjourn the Dec 8 date is that he would fied from being a MP under Article 48
be under quarantine for seven days when and hence a copy of the application of the Federal Constitution if he is fined
he returns from Singapore on Dec 6 af- has been forwarded to the judge. RM2,000 or more, or is sentenced to more
ter visiting his daughter Nooryana Najwa, Previously, Najib had re- than a year’s jail.
who would be delivering her second child. quested Justice Sequerah to
adjust the hearing dates to en- The announcement on Tuesday of the
In addition, his lead counsel Tan Sri able him to lead the Barisan decision date came slightly over six months
Muhammad Shafee Abdullah also has his Nasional (BN) campaign in after the Court of Appeal bench led by
RM9.5 million income tax and money the Melaka state election. Justice Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil
laundering trial before Justice Datuk reserved judgement in delivering its deci-
Muhammad Jamil Hussin at the sion after hearing submissions from both
High Court, Najib said in his ap- the defence and prosecution that ended
plication filed through the law firm on May 18.
Shafee & Co.
Read also:
Shafee when contacted by Six months on, still no sign of
The Edge confirmed that Najib decision on Najib’s appeal over SRC
has sought an adjournment of the conviction Click here
date fixed by the court to deliver its
decision on his appeal.

Datuk Seri Najib’s SRC worst case of abuse of
Najib Razak position and betrayal of trust, says
judge Click here
Shahrin Yahya/The Edge

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23): The Na- Mitra issue: al,” she said when winding up the debate
tional Unity Ministry will conduct an in- Internal on the Supply Bill 2022 at the Commit-
ternal investigation into the issue of the tee level in the Dewan Rakyat onTuesday
Malaysian Indian Community Transfor- investigation to (Nov 23).
mation Unit (Mitra) fund, after the in- follow MACC
vestigation conducted by the Malaysian investigation, says She also expressed confidence that
Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) National Unity the Indian Community Action Plan, to
concluded, said its minister Datuk Hali- be launched next year, will be more fo-
mah Mohamed Sadique. Ministry cused on monitoring, implementation and
evaluation of programmes, including the
She said that the MACC’s investigation Bernama form of approval that should be given to
not only looked at elements of crime but the Indian community.
also at the process of how the approval
of the Mitra allocation grant was issued. On Monday, the MACC said that it has
almost completed the investigation paper
She added that the MACC would also involving 10 companies that received Mi-
submit recommendations for strengthening tra allocation grants, and it will be submit-
purposes, so that there would be no leakage ted to the deputy public prosecutor in the
in spending the RM100 million allocation near future to determine the next course
by the Ministry of Finance to the Indian of action.
community in the country.
A total of 337 companies, associations
“We give space to the MACC to con- and non-governmental organisations
duct an investigation.When we talk about (NGOs) were identified to have been ap-
how the grant process is approved or is- proved grant allocations by Mitra from
sued, of course, it involves the officers or 2019 to 2021, with an allocation of about
any party responsible for giving the approv- RM203 million.

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PUTRAJAYA (Nov 23): The detention Detention of Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules
of businessman Alvin Goh Leong Yang businessman stipulates the apex court’s inherent juris-
in Simpang Renggam for two years un- allegedly involved diction for review, “whereby for the re-
der the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 in Macau scam moval of doubts it is hereby declared that
(Poca) over his purported involvement in stands, rules nothing in these Rules shall be deemed
the Macau scam syndicate stands. Federal Court to limit or affect the inherent powers of
the court to hear any application or to
A Federal Court bench led by Chief by Hafiz Yatim make any order as may be necessary to
Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat theedgemarkets.com prevent injustice or to prevent an abuse
had on Tuesday dismissed Goh’s review of the process of the court”.
application to set aside a majority deci- 1995 through his brother GohYeong Hui,
sion by another apex court bench last who had cited the Federal Court decision Goh’s application to challenge his de-
July that dismissed his appeal to secure in the case of Datuk Zaidi Kanapiah, bet- tention had earlier been dismissed by an-
his release. ter known as Datuk Addy Kanna, who other Federal Court bench last July 31
was also detained under Poca for similar with a 2-1 majority that ruled the appli-
The other members of the bench that purported offences, but was subsequent- cation was academic.
made the unanimous decision were Jus- ly released.
tices Puan Sri Zaleha Yusof and Datuk Justices Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli
Harminder Singh Dhaliwal. However, it is understood that Justice and Datuk Zabariah MohdYusof were in
Tengku Maimun had on Tuesday ruled the majority while Justice Datuk Vernon
The decision on Tuesday was con- that Goh had failed to fulfil the thresh- Ong Lam Kiat was the dissenting judge
firmed by Goh’s counsel Datuk Seri Go- old of Rule 137 to justify a review of the that ruled as in the Zaidi Kanapiah case
pal Sri Ram to theedgemarkets.com as other bench’s decision and that the argu- that the magistrate did not adhere to the
reporters were not allowed to cover the re- ment brought by Sri Ram on the need to remand order.
view proceedings which were held online. abide by judicial discipline following the
majority 3-2 decision in Zaidi Kanapiah’s Goh had earlier failed to gain his re-
The respondents to the review applica- case was not good grounds for review. lease at the KL High Court before Judi-
tion were the Magistrate’s Court of Kuala cial Commissioner Datuk Azhar Abdul
Lumpur, Assistant Superindent Khairul Hamid in November last year.
Fairoz Rodzuan, Inspector General of
Police Malaysia, and the Malaysian gov- Since then, the government had last
ernment, represented by senior federal month filed a bid to forfeit more than
counsels Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan, Mu- RM500,000 from Goh and Zaidi’s wife.
hammad Sinti, Nur Jihan Azman and fed-
eral counsel Anasuha Atiqah Mat Saidi. Goh along with his brotherYeong Hui
had in April been charged with seven
Goh had filed a review application counts of money laundering of RM2.14
under Rule 137 of Federal Court Rules million.

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23):The High Sri Ram:Judiciary Federation of Peninsular Malay Students
Court was told that the issue of abolish- not right govt (GPMS) and also the Islamic Education
ing vernacular schools should be decid- Development Council (Mappim) in De-
ed upon by the legislative and executive branch to decide cember 2019.
branches of government, and not the ju- on abolition of
diciary, as it is not equipped with infor- They are seeking a court declaration
mation to make such decisions. vernacular schools that the existence of vernacular schools go
against the provisions in the federal con-
Former Federal Court Judge Datuk by Timothy Achariam stitution, as Article 152(1) defines Malay
Sri Gopal Sri Ram who represented the theedgemarkets.com as the national language.
Malaysian Chinese Language Council
as a defendant in this case, submitted on sam fong/the edge The group added that Sections 2, 17
Tuesday in the challenge of the legality and 28 of the Education Act 1966, which
of vernacular schools, regarding their use Datuk Sri Gopal Sri Ram allow Chinese and Tamil schools to con-
of non-national mediums of instruction. duct their lessons in their native languages,
are against the constitution.
“This matter is a pure legislative and
executive decision, this is not a question The other plaintiff is the Coalition of
for the judiciary,” he said. NationalWriters’ Associations (Gapena).

He also cited 13 Limb 1 of the 9th There also are a total of 13 defendants
Schedule of the Federal Constitution, in this case including the education min-
which states that all matters of educa- ister and the government.
tion in the country fall squarely under
the powers of Parliament. Furthermore, Sri Ram argued that the
plaintiffs have no locus standi or right to
“It is not unlawful for these schools to bring this action to court, as they have not
exist and whether they exist.Whether they shown how they were adversely affected
should exist is a question for the executive by vernacular schools.
and legislative branches of government,”
Sri Ram added. “They have not shown that they were
affected, whether in their pocket or prop-
Sri Ram was submitting before Jus- erty or person,” he told the Judge, adding
tice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in the that there is no right of the plaintiff that
suit which was brought to court by the has been violated.

continues on Page 20

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PUTRAJAYA (Nov 23):Three new mech- New mechanisms To strengthen Malaysian halal certifi-
anisms will be implemented to ensure the to strengthen cation, Ismail Sabri said JAKIM is devel-
integrity of the management system for the management oping a RM3.4 million Halal Integrated
import of halal meat products into the coun- of halal meat Information System to serve as a database
try, said Datuk Seri Ismail SabriYaakob. imports — PM for halal products.

The prime minister said these mech- Bernama The database will comprise six systems,
anisms will be implemented by the De- namely the MYeHALAL (domestic), MYe-
partment of Islamic Development Malay- transport chain under the scheme for trans- HALAL (international),the e-Cert Print Sys-
sia (JAKIM) and several related agencies port logistics category,” he added. tem, Malaysia International Halal Authority
in response to the imported meat cartel Board (MyIHAB), Module on Application
episode in December last year, which Apart from this, there will also be a man- of Foreign Slaughterhouses and Module on
served as an eye-opener to many quar- datory procedure on repackaging compelling Malaysian Halal Product Ingredients Man-
ters regarding the importance of having companies to obtain Malaysian halal certifica- agement (MyHALAL Ingredients).
a sound management system for the halal tion under the food product scheme, he said.
product supply chain in Malaysia. He said that under MyIHAB,JAKIM can
The media reported in December last year regulate 84 foreign halal certification bodies
One new requirement is for ani- that a syndicate had smuggled frozen meat from 46 countries recognised by JAKIM.
mal-based products stored at warehouses into the country before repackaging it with
to possess the Malaysian Halal Certificate the halal logo to sell the products in Malaysia. “Insya-Allah, through this planning, it is
(SPHM) under the scheme for warehous- expected that beginning from 2023, Kelu-
ing logistics category, he said when launch- arga Malaysia (the Malaysian Family) can
ing the 2021 National Halal Conference use this system to check the status of halal
virtually here on Tuesday (Nov 23). products from foreign countries,” he said.
Click here to read the full story
“Imported animal-based products need
to use the services of an SPHM-certified

Consumer association asks govt to take immediate steps
to curb soaring prices of vegetables

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23):The Con- by Sulhi Khalid ing the enforcement division of the Min-
sumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) on theedgemarkets.com istry of Domestic Trade and Consumer
Tuesday (Nov 23) asked the Ministry of Affairs to investigate the price increases
DomesticTrade and Consumer Affairs and “Several retailers complained that dis- of vegetables as average income earners
Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority tributors and wholesalers have warned will be badly affected by escalating prices
(FAMA) to take immediate steps to bring them that prices of other vegetables may of such items.
down prices of vegetables, including choy go up in the coming weeks,” he claimed.
sum, the price of which CAP claimed has He alleged that vegetable traders hiked
increased the most by 200% to RM9 a kilo- According to Mohideen,the CAP is ask- prices of these items excessively and vi-
gramme from RM3 in the past two weeks. olated Malaysia’s Price Control and An-
ti-Profiteering Act.
In a statement, CAP president Mo-
hideen Abdul Kader said prices of other “CAP has also been repeatedly calling
vegetables including broccoli and cauliflow- for FAMA to take control of the market-
er have also more than doubled in the past ing and distribution of vegetables in the
two weeks. country but our calls have fallen on deaf
ears,” Mohideen claimed.
Mohideen said the price of broccoli has Read also: Chicken prices spike on higher
increased 150% to RM20 a kilogramme demand in Phase Four of National Recov-
from RM8 while the price of cauliflower ery Plan, Johor assembly told Click here
has risen 128.57% to RM16 a kilogramme
from RM7.

from Page 19 um of instruction, as it denies students the their own land, what more of getting jobs
fundamental right to live with dignity in the in another land,” he said.
Vernacular school students country due to the lack of jobs they may face.
will suffer from lack of Bahasa He said that this is in direct contraven-
Malaysia proficiency “This would limit their opportunities, tion of Article 5 of the Federal Consti-
Lawyer representing GPMS, Mohamed especially in the civil service,” he said. tution, which deals with the right to life.
Haniff Khatri Abdulla, submitted that
vernacular school students will not have “More and more employers in the pub- Article 5(1) stipulates that no person
as many jobs in the job market, as lack of lic and private sectors require candidates shall be deprived of his life or personal
proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia would be who are proficient in Bahasa Malaysia. liberty in accordance with law.
a stumbling block for them. This will make things difficult for vernac-
ular students to get jobs in the future.We The case continues onWednesday (Nov
He also added that vernacular schools do not want this to happen to our own 24) with other plaintiff and defendant law-
must adopt Bahasa Malaysia as the medi- countrymen, if they can’t get jobs here in yers submitting on the matter before Jus-
tice Nazlan.

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world

Biden orders release of US oil reserves
in challenge to OPEC+

by Ari Natter, Jennifer Jacobs
& Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Bloomberg

(Nov 23): The US will release 50 million An oil pump jack in a field with wind turbines in Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S., Friday, Feb. 19, 2021.
barrels of crude from its strategic reserves
in concert with China, Japan, India, South formerWhite House official under President “Tapping the SPR will provide
Korea and the UK — an unprecedented, co- GeorgeW. Bush.“If it comes to a test of wills much-needed temporary relief at the pump
ordinated attempt by the world’s largest oil and capabilities between a handful of stra- and will signal to OPEC that they cannot
consumers to tame prices that could prompt tegic oil reserve holders led by the US and recklessly manipulate supply to artificially
a backlash by OPEC+. OPEC+, the market would probably bet on inflate gas prices,” Senate Majority Leader
the latter prevailing.” Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
Of that amount, 32 million will be re-
leased from the US Strategic Petroleum Under the plan, the US will conduct the At 50 million barrels, Tuesday’s an-
Reserve as an exchange over next several exchanges over several months, with oil com- nounced action represents one of the larg-
months, while 18 million will come from an panies taking possession of the crude now est-ever release from US reserves, eclipsing
accelerated release from previously author- and then returning supplies to the reserve past interventions that saw the US putting
ized sales, the White House said in a state- later, when prices have eased. 30 million barrels onto the world market.
mentTuesday. It represents one of the biggest
releases ever from the reserve, surpassing US Senior administration officials said the It also surpasses the rapid drawdown of
interventions amid Libyan unrest in 2011 two-pronged oil release plan, the result of 33.75 million barrels that was ordered in
and Operation Desert Storm in 1991. months of discussion and diplomacy, is tai- 1991, amid Operation Desert Storm.
lored to the current market conditions, with
A senior administration official told re- oil prices that are high now expected to dip Asian countries joined the US releasing
porters Tuesday that barrels would begin in coming months. oil, sending a political signal of support,
moving as early as mid-to-late December. but one with little oil market value as the
The administration is prepared to take fur- The administration can also make adjust- quantities involved were small, disappoint-
ther, unspecified steps, if needed, theWhite ments to the exchanges in coming months ing traders.
House said. as it deals with a dynamic oil market, the
administration official said. India said it will release 5 million barrels,
Oil futures in NewYork pared losses to according to a statement. China didn’t dis-
trade at US$76.39 a barrel at 7.44 am in The administration has worked to iden- close its contribution, but oneWestern offi-
New York after earlier falling as much as tify the best tools for addressing the current cial familiar with the matter said it would be
1.9% as investors factored in that the bulk dynamic, one of the officials said. It has so relatively small, in the 7 million-to-15 mil-
of the crude release will need to be returned far rebuffed calls from members of Biden’s lion barrels range. South Korea said it will
to the reserve. own party to clamp down on exports of US decide on details such as volume and tim-
oil, amid warnings that could backfire by ing after discussing with partner countries
The decision by President Joe Biden to actually discouraging domestic production. but indicated it could be about 3.5 million
collectively discharge stockpiled crude after barrels. Japan indicated it would release 5
OPEC+ countries rebuffed calls to signifi- Biden, who is scheduled to deliver re- million barrels or less.The UK contribution
cantly boost production marks a diplomatic marks on the economy and consumer pric- is expected to be even smaller, the same
win for the US and a challenge to the grip es later Tuesday, has been seeking the joint official said.
that Saudi Arabia, Russia and other OPEC+ release for weeks, including during a virtual
producers have on the market. summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “This is a hugely political move, and
Ultimately, China was among the countries the Asian countries are adding only small,
But it’s not without risk. OPEC+ officials that agreed to the move. Previous global ef- largely symbolic amounts,” said Amrita Sen,
warned they’re likely to respond by cance- forts to tap stockpiles — such as the 2011 co-founder of consultant Energy Aspects
ling plans to boost their own production, release of 60 million barrels in the wake of Ltd. in London.
negating the addition of stockpiled oil onto unrest and supply disruptions in Libya — Click here to read the full story
the market.The standoff sets up a fight for were coordinated by the International En-
control of the global energy market. ergy Agency.

The tussle threatens to roil the geopolitics
of oil.At stake is the price of the world’s most
important commodity as politicians and cen-
tral bankers contend with the strongest in-
flationary surge in more than a decade. It
also shows the strained relationship between
Washington and Riyadh, traditionally a cor-
nerstone of US relations in the Middle East.

“The market focus has shifted from the
release to how OPEC+ will respond to what
theWhite House is calling a ‘message to the
Saudis’,” said Bob McNally, president of
consultant Rapidan Energy Group and a

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Turkish lira in historic 15% crash
after Erdogan stokes fire sale

ISTANBUL (Nov 23):Turkey’s lira nose- by Daren Butler & Nevzat Devranoglu president a critic of high rates.
dived 15% onTuesday in its second-worst Reuters Against the euro, the currency weak-
day ever after President Tayyip Erdogan
defended recent sharp rate cuts, and vowed led to a sharp recession and following years ened to a fresh record low of 14.6442 on
to win his “economic war of independence” of sub-par economic growth and dou- Tuesday.
despite widespread criticism and pleas to ble-digit inflation.
reverse course. The 10-year benchmark bond yield rose
Though the lira pared some losses by above 21% for the first time since the start
The lira tumbled to as low as 13.45 to 1339 GMT, when it was worth 12.7 to the of 2019. Sovereign dollar bonds suffered
the dollar, plumbing record troughs for an dollar, the last 11 days of losses has been sharp falls with many longer-dated issues
11th straight session. It has lost 45% of its worst run since 1999. down 2 cents,Tradeweb data showed.
its value this year, including a near 26%
decline since the beginning of last week. The central bank has slashed rates by a As the lira plunged, the main share index
total of 400 points since September, leaving rose more than 1% due to suddenly cheap
Erdogan has applied pressure on the real yields deeply negative as virtually all valuations. However bank stocks dropped,
central bank to pivot to an aggressive easing other central banks have begun tightening, with the banking index down 2.5%.
cycle that aims, he says, to boost exports, or are preparing to do so.
investment and jobs — even as inflation ‘Emergency’ hikes?
soars to near 20% and the currency de- The lira has been by far the worst per- The central bank cut its policy rate last
preciation accelerates, eating deeply into former globally this year due mostly to what Thursday by 100 basis points to 15%, well
Turks’ earnings. some analysts have called a premature eco- below inflation of nearly 20%, and signalled
nomic “experiment” by the president who further easing.
Many economists called the rate cuts has ruled Turkey for nearly two decades.
reckless and urged a reversal, while opposi- Erdogan received support on Tues-
tion politicians appealed for early elections. Erdogan’s ruling AK Party is sliding day from his parliamentary ally, national-
Turks told Reuters the dizzying curren- in opinion polls ahead of elections sched- ist MHP leader Devlet Bahceli, who said
cy collapse was upending their household uled for no later than mid-2023, reflecting high interest rates limit production and that
budgets and plans for the future. sharply higher costs of living. there was no alternative to a policy which
focused on investments.
Former central bank deputy governor “Prices are rising too fast. I don’t want
Semih Tumen, who was dismissed last to buy certain products because they’ve got “Turkey needs to rid itself of the hunch-
month in the latest of Erdogan’s rapid too expensive,” said Kaan Acar, 28, a hotel back of interest rates,” Bahceli said in a
leadership overhaul, called for an imme- executive in southernTurkey’s Kalkan re- speech to his party in parliament.
diate return to policies which protect the sort, adding he was thinking of cancelling
lira’s value. a trip abroad due to the rising cost. Analysts said emergency rate hikes
would be needed soon, while speculation
“This irrational experiment which has “The fault lies with President Erdogan, about a cabinet overhaul involving the more
no chance of success must be abandoned the AKP government, and those who for orthodox finance minister, Lutfi Elvan, has
immediately and we must return to quali- years turned a blind eye and supported also weighed.
ty policies which protect the Turkish lira’s them.”
value and the prosperity of theTurkish peo- Erdogan defended the policy late on
ple,” he said on Twitter. Investors appeared to flee as volatility Monday and said tighter monetary policy
gauges spiked to the highest levels since would not lower inflation.
Tuesday’s slide was the lira’s worst since March, when Erdogan abruptly sacked
the height of a currency crisis in 2018 that the hawkish former central bank chief “I reject policies that will contract our
and installed a new governor, like the country, weaken it, condemn our people
to unemployment, hunger and poverty,” he
said after a cabinet meeting, prompting a
late-day slide in the lira.

Societe Generale said on Monday the
central bank would need to deliver an
“emergency” hike as soon as next month
and lift the policy rate to about 19% by the
end of the first quarter of 2022.

Ilan Solot, global market strategist at
Brown Brothers Harriman, said Erdogan
would likely wait until a “breaking point”
before reversing course.

“Right now locals seem content to keep
their dollars in the local system. If they start
to move money elsewhere, to Germany,
to Austria, it’s another story,” Solot said.

“At that point we are talking capital con-
trols.There are not enough dollar reserves,
not enough dollars in the system to han-
dle that.Then we will have a conversation
about a real currency crisis,” he added.

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EU lawmakers Japan to allocate As part of the stimulus package, the
pass strict new US$5.2bil to fund Japanese government will invest about 400
rules affecting billion yen in a new factory to be set up by
chip plants by TSMC in Kumamoto prefecture, south-
big US tech TSMC, others west Japan, according to Nikkei.

by Jillian Deutsch — Nikkei TSMC said earlier this month it would
Bloomberg build a US$7 billion chip plant in Japan
by Jahnavi Nidumolu with Sony Group Corp, a move that was
(Nov 23): The lead committee in the Reuters welcomed by the Japanese government.
European Parliament writing new tech
rules passed measures Tuesday that (Nov 23): Japan will allocate about 600 The remaining 200 billion yen will go
could impact major US and European billion yen ($5.2 billion) from its fiscal toward setting up other factories with sev-
tech companies. 2021 supplementary budget to support eral projects under consideration, including
advanced semiconductor manufacturers by US memory chipmaker Micron Tech-
Lawmakers voted to approve meas- including the world's No. 1 contract chip- nology Inc and Japan’s Kioxia Holdings,
ures in the draft Digital Markets Act maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac- the report said.
that could mean: turing Co (TSMC), Nikkei reported on
• A company’s messaging or social me- Tuesday. Japan's chip-making sector,the world's big-
gest in the 1980s, has struggled to maintain its
dia app is interoperable, to prevent competitive edge, going into a steady decline
users from feeling forced to use one in the past three decades, while rivals such
or the other because that’s where asTaiwanese manufacturers gained ground.
their friends are
• A ban on behavioral targeting of ads TSMC, Micron and Kioxia did not im-
to minors mediately respond to Reuters’ requests for
• Fines of as much as 20% of a compa- comment.
ny’s global annual sales for breaches
of the law Indonesia mulls prominently an article appears in a Google
Companies identified as “gatekeep- media bill seeking search or on a Facebook news feed.
ers” and therefore set to be account- fairer share from
able under the DMA include Ama- The draft, seen by Reuters, has yet to
zon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, big tech go to parliament. It calls for an agency to
Apple and Booking.com, and could negotiate between media firms and tech
later hit online marketplaces Zalando by Agustinus Beo Da Costa companies, and also requires big tech firms
and Alibaba. & Stanley Widianto to do more to filter content for hoaxes.
The vote was a key step toward final- Reuters
izing the EU’s tech rules, expected to “Under the current ecosystem, clickbait
come into force next year. The Parlia- JAKARTA (Nov 23): Indonesian authori- is more profitable,” Wenseslaus said. “It’s
ment will begin negotiations with EU ties are assessing a draft bill that could com- hard to keep the integrity of journalism in
member states and Commission at the pel tech giants like Facebook and Goog- this ecosystem.”
beginning of 2022. le to negotiate with media firms for fairer
Andreas Schwab, the lead negotiator revenues, media groups said on Tuesday, The Australian law has since March re-
in the European Parliament, defended a move inspired by a groundbreaking new quired Facebook and Alphabet’s Google to
this scope saying the European Com- Australian law. negotiate with Australian outlets for con-
mission only has limited resources to tent that drives traffic and advertising to
police the Digital Markets Act. Wenseslaus Manggut, chairman of In- their websites.
donesia’s cyber media association (AMSI),
which was involved in drafting the bill, told Many small Australian publishers have
Reuters the aim was to ensure fairer rev- struggled, however.
enues for outlets that produce core news
and “good journalism”. RossTapsell, a media lecturer at the Aus-
tralian National University, said the bill
Algorithms of big tech companies can would be more advantageous to bigger in-
have a significant impact on income for dustry players with political connections.
digital news media, by determining how
“Ultimately the concern is the smaller,
independent media companies — whose
mission is public interest journalism — may
not benefit from this arrangement,” he said.

About half of Indonesia’s digital adver-
tising revenues go to Facebook and Google,
according to Amir Suherlan, an advertising
expert and managing director of the agency
Wavemaker Indonesia.

Facebook and Google did not imme-
diately respond to requests for comment
on the bill.

Usman Kansong, from Indonesia’s com-
munications ministry, said the bill could
ensure better revenues for “quality” media
organisations, but it was unclear if it would
be standalone legislation, or incorporated
into an existing law.

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SINGAPORE (Nov 23): Royal Dutch Shell Shell halves Pyrolysis melts plastic waste into products
has halved its crude processing capacity at Singapore such as pyrolysis oil, which can be upgraded
its Singapore hub and reduced fuel exports, refining capacity, as raw material for plastics and chemicals,
executives said onTuesday,as the major shifts to change although the process isn’t commercially prov-
away from fossil fuels to cut emissions and chemical en and consumes a lot of energy.
meet global low-carbon energy needs. feedstock
Other projects in Shell Singapore’s pipe-
The refinery on Pulau Bukom would by Florence Tan line include a carbon capture and stor-
continue to produce naphtha for its eth- Reuters age (CCS) hub to reduce emissions and
ylene unit, Shirley Yap, senior vice presi- a 550,000 tpy biofuels plant to process
dent of chemicals and products at Shell “But at the same time ... it can’t be turned waste and vegetable oils into sustainable
Singapore, told reporters. on with just a flick of the switch as infrastruc- aviation fuel (SAF). Shell aims to make
ture needs to be built but we want to be there about 2 million tpy of SAF by 2025 glob-
Shell has also started testing new chem- as quickly as we can,” she said. ally although SAF accounts for less than
ical feedstocks — pyrolysis oil and bion- 0.1% of today’s global jet fuel demand.
aphtha — at the cracker, she said. Shell will build its first pyrolysis oil up-
grader to produce 50,000 tonnes per year The projects form part of Shell Singa-
Shell is a key fuel supplier in Asia and (tpy) of treated pyrolysis oil for its 800,000 pore’s plans to cut emissions from its op-
the drop in exports has tightened supplies tpy cracker on Bukom in 2023. erations by half by 2030, from 2016 levels
and propelled margins for refiners in the on a net basis, Shell Downstream Director
region back to pre-pandemic levels in re- reuters Huibert Vigeveno said.
cent months.
Shell did not provide investment figures
“The reality is that we’ve cut a substan- for the projects.
tial part of our capacity and there’s demand
for fuels today so we have to ensure that we Energy companies are facing increasing
are doing it at a pace that is in step with our pressure from investors, activists and gov-
customers and in step with the society,” Shell ernments to steer away from fossil fuels and
Singapore Chairman Aw Kah Peng said. rapidly ramp up investment in renewables.

Globally, Shell has pledged to halve
emissions from its operations by 2030, as
well as reduce its net carbon footprint by
45% by 2035.

Bukom, together with other Shell chem-
ical plants on Jurong Island, forms one of
five remaining Energy and Chemical Parks
owned by the major globally.

Shell plans to build two chemical con-
version units in Asia to convert waste plas-
tics into pyrolysis oil for Singapore, similar
to units in the Netherlands with joint ven-
ture partner BlueAlp which will be oper-
ational in 2023.

Shell previously announced it would
trial the use of hydrogen fuel cells for ships
in Singapore and is exploring developing a
solar farm in a landfill near Bukom.

SINGAPORE (Nov 23): Indonesia’s palm Indonesia’s 2021 palm oil products are seen up 22.2% for
oil exports and production in 2021 are palm oil exports, this year.
both likely to fall for a second straight year, output to fall for
the vice chairman of the country’s palm This is the second time GAPKI has re-
oil association (GAPKI) said on Tuesday. second year vised their export outlook for 2021.
— association
The expected decline at the world’s The association forecasted last month
top producer is due to a sharp drop of by Fathin Ungku that 2021 total palm oil exports would
crude palm oil exports and output issues Reuters rise 1.2%, despite a then-estimated drop
stemming from less fertiliser use and poor in CPO exports of 54.4%.
plantation upkeep. Sitanggang said the fall in exports over-
all were mainly due to the slump in CPO Sitanggang said that the drop in CPO
Total palm oil exports are expected to shipments. exports is in line with the country’s goal to
fall for a second year by 0.34% in 2021 cease CPO exports altogether, while beef-
from a year earlier, GAPKI vice chair- “India somehow prefers refined palm ing up shipments of value-added palm oil.
man Togar Sitanggang told a virtual con- oil,” he said, adding that export of refined
ference. Indonesian President JokoWidodo said
last month that he country aims to stop ex-
Indonesia’s crude palm oil (CPO) ex- porting CPO “at some point” in the future.
ports, meanwhile, are expected to plum-
met by 60.5% this year compared to 2020, Indonesia has not yet disclosed details
he added, as top buyer India opts for re- on how it would stop CPO exports.
fined products instead.
Palm oil exports fell 9% in 2020 after
hitting a record high in 2019, while pro-
duction fell 1%.

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reuters

Australian Vaccines ward off
government severe Covid-19

playing in US, wane
dangerous game against infections

overTaiwan by Jonathan Levin
— opposition Bloomberg

by Colin Packham Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison MIAMI (Nov 23): Covid-19 vaccines
Reuters remain highly effective at keeping people
alive and out of the hospital, but new US
CANBERRA (Nov 23):The government on to power at any cost,” Wong said in a data adds further support to the argu-
of Australian Prime Minister Scott Mor- speech to the Australian National Uni- ment that the shots are not preventing
rison is deploying a “dangerous election versity on Tuesday. infections as much as they once did.
tactic” with its comments about joining the
United States in any war over Taiwan, the Wong said Morrison’s government has Unvaccinated people were about five
opposition party’s foreign affairs spokes- in recent weeks sought to portray Labor times more likely to test positive for the
person said on Tuesday. as pro-China. virus than the unvaccinated in the week
starting Sept 26, down from about 15
Australia’s Minister for Defence Peter Relations with China, already rocky times less likely in May, according to the
Dutton earlier this month said it was “in- after Australia banned Huawei from its latest age-adjusted data from the Centers
conceivable” that Canberra would not join nascent 5G broadband networking in for Disease Control and Prevention
the United States in military action should 2018, cooled further after Canberra in (CDC), which was updated on Monday.
China attack Taiwan, the democratically 2020 called for an independent investi-
ruled island Beijing views as a wayward gation into the origins of the coronavirus The new figures come shortly after
province. pandemic, first reported in central Chi- the CDC approved booster shots for
na in 2019. all adults, and could provide additional
PennyWong, the foreign affairs spokes- support for third doses as the US heads
person for the opposition Labor party, said China responded by imposing tariffs into its traditional winter virus season.
Dutton’s comments were part of the gov- on Australian commodities, including Covid-19 cases are rising across many
ernment’s strategy for an election that must wine and barley and limited imports of parts of the US, including the Midwest
happen before May 2022. Australian beef, coal and grapes, moves and Northeast.
described by the United States as “eco-
“Amping up the prospect of war nomic coercion”. The CDC data is not adjusted for
against a superpower is the most dan- time since vaccination.That means that
gerous election tactic in Australian his- Wong said Taiwan is the greatest risk the earliest recipients of the vaccine —
tory — a tactic employed by irresponsi- to stability in the Indo-Pacific region, and mostly senior citizens and those with
ble politicians who are desperate to hang any conflict there would be “catastrophic pre-existing conditions — are possibly
for humanity”. at even greater risk.

BERLIN (Nov 23): Germany’s health Germany With Germany grappling with concerns
minister called on Tuesday for further re- considers more about supply of the BioNTech/Pfizer vac-
strictions to contain a “dramatic” surge in Covid-19 curbs as cine, the company brought forward the
coronavirus cases as the country’s infection US advises against delivery of one million doses originally
rate hit a record high and the United States planned for December, Spahn told health
advised against travel there. travel there ministry officials on Monday, according to
two government sources.
The seven-day incidence rate — the by Andreas Rinke, Riham Alkhousaa
number of people per 100,000 to be in- & Sarah Marsh That would enable it to deliver 3 million
fected over the last week — hit 399.8 on Reuters instead of 2 million doses next week as peo-
Tuesday, up from 386.5 on Monday, data ple rush to get booster shots and appoint-
from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for “The situation is not only serious, in ments at vaccine centres are booked out.
infectious diseases showed. some regions in Germany it is now dra-
matic,” Spahn told German Radio. “We Whether it would affect the total num-
Health Minister Jens Spahn called for are having to move patients around as the ber of vaccines assigned to Germany for
more public spaces to be restricted to those intensive care units are full and that doesn’t the rest of the year remained to be decid-
who were vaccinated or recently recovered just affect Covid-19 patients.” ed, the sources said.
from Covid-19 and also had a negative test,
in a bid to contain Germany’s fourth wave. The surge in cases in Germany, and
in neighbouring Denmark, prompted
Spahn did not rule out lockdowns, al- the US Centers for Disease Control and
though he said this would be decided region Prevention (CDC) on Monday to advise
by region. Some regions such as the hard-hit against travel to the two countries, rais-
Saxony and Bavaria are already taking meas- ing its travel recommendation to “Level
ures such as cancelling Christmas markets. Four: Very High”.

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BlackRock says
time to buy China
stocks, trim India

exposure

by Ishika Mookerjee & John Cheng
Reuters

(Nov 23): BlackRock Inc. is trimming BlackRock has rejigged its Asia-focused ronment is “more favorable” for growth
its investments in Indian equities and portfolios to have more neutral positions stocks in China, according to BlackRock,
becoming more optimistic on China on on China, up from underweight, and nar- which is investing around four themes in
attractive valuations amid expectations rowed its underweight call on internet ser- China — sustainability, self-reliance, social
that policy hurdles will ease next year. vices companies. equality and data security.

“Valuations are key right now,” Belin- “The time to position in the China mar- India’s NSE Nifty 50 Index is trading at
da Boa, head of active investments for ket is right now,” Lucy Liu, a portfolio man- 21 times forward earnings estimates, com-
Asia Pacific at the world’s biggest asset ager for global emerging markets equities, pared with the CSI 300’s 14 times multiple,
manager, said at a briefing. “Because of said at the same briefing. Economic growth according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
the outperformance we’ve seen in In- may surprise to the upside, with signs of
dia this year, on a relative basis, we are “bottoming out” for the internet and prop- Still, the NewYork-based asset manager
starting to take profits” and becoming erty sectors, she said. is positive on India in the long term due to
more positive on Chinese growth stocks, structural reforms, economic growth and
she said. Discretionary spending probably won’t a strong pipeline of share offerings.There
soon return to pre-Covid levels and up- should be a “continued surge of listings of
After a world-beating rally, senti- stream prices will moderate, keeping a lid IPOs,” with opportunities in India’s tech-
ment on Indian shares has soured due on inflation, Liu said. Helped by an ac- nology and new-economy sectors in par-
to broker downgrades and concerns commodative monetary policy, the envi- ticular, Boa said.
about tightening liquidity, worsened by
a poor showing for the nation’s biggest
initial public offering. By contrast, there
is growing belief among investors that
Chinese stocks could bounce back as the
worst is probably over for Beijing’s reg-
ulatory scrutiny of private enterprises.

reuters

BofA is bearish “We are therefore bearish and believe
on markets and capital preservation will grow as a theme in
sees ‘rates shock’ the year ahead,” the bank strategists said.
coming in 2022
Their forecast contrasts sharply with bull-
by Nikos Chrysoloras ish views at otherWall Street banks, including
Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan
Chase & Co., who see stock markets climb-
(Nov 23): Bank of America Corp. strate- ing at a more muted pace next year.
gists are bearish on markets next year and
urged investors to focus on preserving cash Risk assets roared higher on Monday,
as faster inflation and higher interest rates sending the S&P 500 to a new all-time
upend the trajectory of global asset prices. high, as investors cheered the nomination
of Jerome Powell for a second term at the
In a note to clients, strategists led by head of the Federal Reserve.
Michael Hartnett listed macro trade rec-
ommendations, including long positions Bank of America’s strategists cautioned
on volatility gauges, oil, energy, the U.S. that this is a “most unconventional of cycles”
dollar, and real assets. Investors can expect and its end is “highly unlikely to follow a con-
a “rates shock” in 2022, following the “in- ventional path.”They draw parallels between
flation shock” of 2021 and “growth shock” today’s investment backdrop and the “early
of 2020, they wrote. stagflation” of the late 1960s and early 70s.

In the bull case for equities, asset prices
could keep going higher if the Fed is determined
to keep real rates deeply negative, they wrote.

The strategists also reiterated concerns
about the risks building in frothy market cor-
ners. “The-mother-of-all bubbles in crypto
& tech remains a ‘fat tail,’” they said.

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IMF “Because of those risks, Bitcoin should reuters
recommends not be used as a legal tender. Staff recom-
El Salvador to mends narrowing the scope of the Bitcoin Long-term
not use Bitcoin law and urges strengthening the regulation Bitcoin holders
as legal tender and supervision of the new payment eco- at multi-year
system,” said the IMF.
by Anthony Esposito & Diego Ore high — data
Reuters The IMF statement came only two days
after President Nayib Bukele announced El by Surin Murugiah
MEXICO CITY (Nov 23): The Interna- Salvador was planning to build the world’s theedgemarkets.com
tional Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday first “Bitcoin city”, which will be funded
said El Salvador should not use Bitcoin as initially by Bitcoin bonds. KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 23):Long-
legal tender, considering risks related to the term holders of Bitcoin (BTC) are at
cryptocurrency. Bukele said the city would get its ener- a multi-year high but investors are not
gy supply from a volcano and would not taking profit as yet.
“Given Bitcoin’s high price volatility, its levy any taxes except for value added tax.
use as a legal tender entails significant risks In itsTheWeek Onchain (Week 47,
to consumer protection, financial integrity, Bukele has championed the adoption 2021) newsletter on Monday (Nov
and financial stability,” the IMF said in its of Bitcoin, arguing it will help millions of 22), analytics provider Glassnode said
staff concluding statement of the 2021 Ar- Salvadorans living abroad send remittances these long-term holders (LTHs) ap-
ticle IV mission to El Salvador. “Its use also back home. He has also said it will bring pear to be reducing their spending but
gives rise to fiscal contingent liabilities.” financial inclusion, investment, tourism, continued to add to their positions.
and development.
The IMF regularly undertakes Article It said BTC price tumbled this
IV missions to member countries to con- “Although we obviously do not agree week from a high of US$66,281
sult with government officials before they on some things, such as the adoption of to a low of US$55,705, rattling a
request to use IMF resources. #Bitcoin, the analysis it makes of our coun- previously quiet and bullish run in
try is interesting,” Bukele said of the IMF price action.
In September, El Salvador became the statement.
first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal ten- It said while price stays pinned
der, alongside the U.S. dollar. The IMF also estimated El Salvador’s below new highs and sentiment re-
economy will grow around 10% in 2021 mains scattered, BTC's stakeholders
and 3.2% in 2022 and said it expects the are actively adjusting to new market
Central American nation’s public debt to information.
reach 85% of its GDP by the end of 2021.
Read also: Shiba Inu team issues scam alert Glassnode said this has shown up
to investors Click here as a recent shifting of coin distribution
amongst holders, which will likely im-
SINGAPORE (Nov 23): Mapletree Logis- Singapore’s pact the market's short-term response.
tics Trust said on Tuesday (Nov 23) it is Mapletree
launching an equity fundraising of S$700 Logistics The analytics firm said that gen-
million (US$513 million or about RM2.15 flags S$700m erally speaking, spikes in on-chain
billion) through a private placement and fundraising profit-taking during bullish impuls-
preferential issue of units to finance ac- to buy Asia es are to be expected as price climbs
quisitions of properties inVietnam, China properties to new highs, and are typical for any
and Japan. bull market.
by Aradhana Aravindan
The proposed deal comes at a time Reuters It said as the realisation of profits
of booming demand for warehouses and increase, so too does the probability
logistics infrastructure as the coronavirus million new units to existing unithold- of establishing a macro top.
pandemic spurs e-commerce. ers at between S$1.82 and S$1.87
apiece. Glassnode signalled that the to-
Mapletree Logistics is backed by Ma- tal supply held by short-term hold-
pletree Investments Pte Ltd, a subsidiary Units of Mapletree Logistics closed at ers (STHs) is at a multi-year low, at
of state investor Temasek Holdings. S$1.95 on Monday. Trading of the units less than 3 million BTC — which in
was halted on Tuesday. turn means that the amount held by
The company said the capital will help LTHs is at a multi-year high.
fund the purchase of 17 logistics assets DBS, HSBC and Oversea-Chinese
for S$1.47 billion in China,Vietnam and Banking Corp (OCBC) are the joint glob- It said seeing STH supply this low
Japan.Thirteen of these properties are lo- al coordinators and bookrunners for the whilst price is near all-time highs is a
cated in China. equity fundraising. relatively unique case.

The purchases are also being funded
partly by debt.

Mapletree Logistics launched a S$400
million private placement of 209.3 mil-
lion to 215.1 million units to investors at
an issue price of between S$1.860 and
S$1.911 apiece.

It also proposed to raise S$300 million
via a preferential offering of up to 163.4

w e d n e s d a y n o v e m b e r 2 4 , 2 0 2 1 28 T h e E d g e C E O m o r n i n g b r i e f

MARKETS

CPO RM 4,852.00 -107.00 OIL US$ 78.99 -0.71 RM/USD 4.1985 RM/SGD 3.0708 RM/AUD 3.0333 RM/GBP 5.6116 RM/EUR 4.7271

Top 20 active stocks

NAME VOLUME CHANGE CLOSE YTD MARKET
(MIL) (RM) CHANGE CAP
(%) (RM MIL)

My EG Services Bhd 97.80 0.040 1.090 13.54 8075.4

Dagang NeXchange Bhd 54.80 0.015 0.865 284.44 2729.3

ATA IMS Bhd 50.70 -0.310 1.200 -49.58 1443.4

NWP Holdings Bhd 36.3 -0.025 0.33 32 173.7

Tanco Holdings Bhd 36.2 0 0.27 440 451.60

Uzma Bhd 35.2 -0.05 0.525 -7.08 184.8

YBS International Bhd 32.7 0.045 0.625 237.84 154.3

AirAsia Group Bhd 31.9 -0.03 1 12.99 3898.1

Xidelang Holdings Ltd 31.4 0 0.04 -42.86 84.6 World equity indices

Top Builders Capital Bhd 30.2 0.015 0.045 -60.87 31.8

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd 28.3 -0.005 0.03 -64.71 45.9 CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE CLOSE CHANGE CHANGE

Kejuruteraan Asastera Bhd 27.6 -0.005 0.335 -42.57 595.6 (%) (%)
DOW JONES 35,619.25 17.27 0.05 INDONESIA 6,677.88 -45.51 -0.68
Inari Amertron Bhd 27.1 0 4.24 54.49 15650.9

Metronic Global Bhd 26.4 0 0.015 -85 32.5 S&P 500 4,682.94 -15.02 -0.32 JAPAN 29,774.11 28.24 0.09

CTOS Digital Bhd 26 -0.02 1.85 0 4070 NASDAQ 100 16,380.98 -192.36 -1.16 KOREA 2,997.33 -15.92 -0.53

Cekd Bhd 24.8 0.04 1 0 194.6 FTSE 100 7,241.58 -13.88 -0.19 PHILIPPINES 7,401.16 118.49 1.63

JAG Bhd 24.3 -0.005 0.375 38.89 226.8 AUSTRALIA 7,410.57 57.49 0.78 SINGAPORE 3,227.53 -9.55 -0.30

Widad Group Bhd 24.2 0 0.38 -52.2 1039.9 CHINA 3,589.09 7.01 0.20 TAIWAN 17,666.12 -137.42 -0.77

TECHNA-X Bhd 22.6 0.01 0.095 -40.63 193 HONG KONG 24,651.58 -299.76 -1.20 THAILAND 1,646.42 -3.12 -0.19

Scope Industries Bhd 22.3 -0.01 0.355 19.39 409.6 INDIA 58,664.33 198.44 0.34 VIETNAM 1,463.63 16.38 1.13

Data as compiled on Nov 23, 2021 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Nov 23, 2021 Source: Bloomberg

Top gainers (ranked by %) Top losers (ranked by %)

NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET
(%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (%) (‘000) CHANGE CAP
(%) (RM MIL) (%) (RM MIL)

Top Builders Capital Bhd 0.05 50.0 30188.8 -60.87 31.8 Vsolar Group Bhd 0.010 -33.33 528.0 -75.00 45.7

Borneo Oil Bhd 0.03 20.0 8030.6 -25.00 217.8 EA Holdings Bhd 0.015 -25.00 2658.0 -50.00 76.1

Malaysia Pacific Corp Bhd 0.12 14.3 123.10 -40.00 34.5 ATA IMS Bhd 1.200 -20.53 50,698.90 -49.58 1443.4

Encorp Bhd 0.42 13.5 9267.4 78.72 132.8 Scomi Group Bhd 0.025 -16.67 636.6 -16.67 27.3

Hubline Bhd 0.05 12.5 685.1 -10.00 193.0 Alam Maritim Resources Bhd 0.030 -14.29 28276.4 -64.71 45.9

TECHNA-X Bhd 0.10 11.8 22570.6 -40.63 193.0 TAFI Industries Bhd 2.330 -13.38 14190.8 286.43 288.8

Artroniq Bhd 0.44 11.4 11695.4 -12.87 127.1 Brahim’s Holdings Bhd 0.100 -13.04 11272.6 -69.70 30.7

BCM Alliance Bhd 0.05 11.1 5407.5 -79.09 78.2 DGB Asia Bhd 0.035 -12.50 519.3 -84.44 56.8

Tiger Synergy Bhd 0.05 11.1 6,074.70 -54.43 128.5 AirAsia X Bhd 0.070 -12.50 7886.9 -6.67 290.4

Ideal United Bintang INTL Bhd 1.22 10.9 787.8 12.96 610.0 Concrete Engineering Products 0.820 -11.83 1.5 30.16 61.2

Trive Property Group BHD 0.06 10.0 340.3 -59.45 57.9 Focus Dynamics Group Bhd 0.040 -11.11 1652.2 -93.85 254.9

Pan Malaysia Holdings Bhd 0.06 9.1 1883.3 -42.86 55.7 Pasukhas Group Bhd 0.040 -11.11 8477.5 -88.92 46.3

Sand Nisko Capital Bhd 0.64 8.5 10295.3 293.85 148.3 Apex Equity Holdings Bhd 0.830 -10.75 1.0 -13.54 168.2

Ajiya BHD 0.66 8.2 3799.3 18.92 192.5 PDZ Holdings Bhd 0.045 -10.00 10915.1 -91.73 22.6

RGT BHD 0.73 8.2 11065.3 31.53 491.3 M3 Technologies Asia Bhd 0.050 -9.09 41 -23.08 44.7

EP Manufacturing Bhd 1.10 7.8 11225.1 243.75 190.1 FSBM Holdings BHD 0.205 -8.89 875.3 105.00 29.0

YBS International Bhd 0.63 7.8 32663.8 237.84 154.3 BSL Corp Bhd 1.660 -8.79 3602.7 773.68 320.8

Sinaran Advance Group Bhd 0.07 7.7 238 -72.55 49.3 Uzma Bhd 0.525 -8.70 35196.2 -7.08 184.8

Minda Global Bhd 0.08 7.1 479.5 25.00 99.1 Advance Information MKT Bhd 0.160 -8.57 1,653.10 -39.62 42.6

Barakah Offshore Petroleum 0.08 6.67 819.2 45.45 80.2 Ageson Bhd 0.055 -8.33 7120.1 -57.69 71.4

Data as compiled on Nov 23, 2021 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Nov 23, 2021 Source: Bloomberg

Top gainers (ranked by RM) Top losers (ranked by RM)

NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET NAME CLOSE CHANGE VOLUME YTD MARKET
(RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP (RM) (‘000) CHANGE CAP
(%) (RM MIL) (%) (RM MIL)

Nestle Malaysia Bhd 133.70 0.20 50.7 -3.74 31,352.70 Genetec Technology Bhd 41.060 -1.440 362.9 2273.41 2137.9

Malaysia Smelting Corp Bhd 3.23 0.16 3058.4 125.87 1,356.60 Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd 24.500 -1.000 315.4 -23.63 8986.1

PMB Technology Bhd 12.56 0.16 94 174.24 2,669.10 Kesm Industries Bhd 13.800 -0.620 110.00 1.62 593.6

Ta Ann Holdings Bhd 3.37 0.16 3255.2 11.22 1,484.40 Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd 20.260 -0.540 441.7 -14.44 21838.0

Panasonic Manufacturing M BHD 30.00 0.14 6.9 -2.60 1,822.40 TAFI Industries Bhd 2.330 -0.360 14190.8 286.43 288.8

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd 6.40 0.13 4630.6 8.11 10,618.80 ATA IMS Bhd 1.200 -0.310 50698.9 -49.58 1443.4

Ideal United Bintang INTL Bhd 1.22 0.12 787.80 12.96 610 British American Tobacco M Bhd 13.920 -0.300 904.6 -1.14 3974.6

Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd 2.07 0.12 8,563.80 -52.99 5,281.90 Heineken Malaysia Bhd 21.980 -0.260 35.7 -4.52 6640.1

Guan Chong Bhd 2.87 0.11 281.70 7.49 3,024.20 BP Plastics Holding Bhd 2.790 -0.180 2764.9 94.43 523.6

Negri Sembilan Oil Palms BHD 3.29 0.11 3.50 4.12 231.00 Bursa Malaysia Bhd 6.420 -0.180 2447.0 -21.96 5195.7

UMW Holdings Bhd 3.30 0.10 317.3 -2.94 3,855.40 BSL Corp Bhd 1.660 -0.160 3602.7 773.68 320.8

United Plantations BHD 13.94 0.10 47.3 -0.58 5,761.40 Malayan Cement Bhd 2.830 -0.150 401.6 13.20 3707.9

Dutch Lady Milk Industries BHD 33.10 0.10 4.1 -11.73 2118.4 Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd 3.330 -0.130 3523.7 540.38 8501.9

Keck Seng Malaysia Bhd 3.52 0.09 23.80 -8.33 1,264.70 Genting Plantations Bhd 6.920 -0.120 62.9 -28.91 6208.6

PIE Industrial BHD 3.91 0.09 1528.2 63.04 1,501.60 Sime Darby Plantation Bhd 3.890 -0.120 2575.5 -21.68 26902.1

Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd 20.58 0.08 143.20 -11.45 6,292.30 Transocean Holdings BHD 3.640 -0.110 124.2 360.76 237.0

IHH Healthcare Bhd 6.70 0.08 11,133.70 21.82 58894.1 Concrete Engineering Products 0.820 -0.110 1.5 30.16 61.2

EP Manufacturing Bhd 1.10 0.08 11225.1 243.75 190.10 Milux Corp BHD 1.540 -0.110 2,863.8 170.18 362.0

Spritzer BHD 2.05 0.07 16.50 4.06 430.40 Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd 2.180 -0.110 6.6 24.57 219.6

Kuchai Development BHD 1.87 0.07 23.90 24.67 231.4 Greatech Technology Bhd 7.020 -0.100 470.8 54.29 8,789.90

Data as compiled on Nov 23, 2021 Source: Bloomberg Data as compiled on Nov 23, 2021 Source: Bloomberg